Volunteer Blogs

• Bob Rodgers (2010)
• Renee Waun (2010)

• Nicole Rodgers (2009)
• Michael Glass (2009)
• Kay & Steve (2008)

Volunteers' Blog: Bob Rodgers(2010)

 

Serendipity

Human beings are fascinating creatures. We interact with each other, make connections and develop relationships. Each person finding his or her own way to participate in the lives of those close to them, sharing their abilities, skills, thoughts and feelings. Sometimes these interactions are simple, a joke, a story, even a nod. It's these simple interactions that have a "butterfly effect" that lead to great impacts.

 

One year ago a man walked into an internet cafe, he paid his money to use the computer, sat down and began his task. Having little experience with computers he was soon confused and having trouble. A woman sitting next to him noticed him. She offered assistance, showed him how to log on, set up an email and send it. A connection was made, they exchanged their email addresses and promised to correspond. Over the course of the year they sent a few emails to one another, and one year later having returned to the man's country, the woman was eager to meet her friend and invited him to dinner. The man's name Ssebunya, the woman, Rev. Renee Waun.

 

That dinner was my first meeting with Ssebunya. A tall fit man with a deep voice. We all exchanged some information about ourselves. It turns out that he is something of a lobbyist, relating to health issues in Uganda. He asked Renee more about her school and her goals and listened intently as she spoke. Ssebunya made fast friends with the group and accompanied us several times on our visits.

 

A few days ago, Ssebunya called and said he knows someone who may be able to help us and wanted to set up an appointment. Renee agreed and we arranged a meeting.

 

Today we were standing in front of the Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation at the Mulago Hospital in Kampala. Waiting with Ssebunya for the contact that he provided. We weren't waiting very long before we were approached by an attractive statuesque woman. She introduced herself as Pauline. I was impressed immediately by her English and was fairly sure that she had studied abroad. She briefly explained the hospital and it's mission, to help HIV infected children with treatment, counseling, and quality of life. She led us through the hospital's waiting room. I was stunned to see that every seat was filled, the room full of children and their families, there were even people sitting on blankets on the floor. As we walked by I saw the children, some were seemingly healthy, sitting in front of the large screen TV provided by the hospital, watching "Stuart Little" Others were more frail, in the advanced stages of AIDS and even some were lying limply in their mother's lap, gasping.

 

While we stood in the lobby, chatting about the hospital and it's history, a few children wandered over and waved up at me. I waved back and reached my hand out. Some reached back just to touch me, others shook my hand and knelt ( a common custom and a show of respect.) One bright-eyed girl stood with me and held my hand while sucking her thumb.

 

It is at this point, I regret that I do not have the ability to put into words what exactly was happening to me. I can only say that I was a bit relieved when we moved on to the upstairs board-room because it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain composure.

 

Once we sat in the boardroom Hanan began to explain the school, his goals and the progress that he's been making. He asked quite bluntly, what services she could provide. We came with a few expectations, we assumed counseling and hoped for testing, but as she spoke out eyes widened and our jaws dropped. I will summarize what this program will do for the 410 students of the ABC Foundation school.

They will send a full team of doctors, nurses, counselors and organizers on site. They will provide pre-counseling, they will test every student with same day results, they will provide updated anti-retroviral medication for the infected children and treatment for their families, they will provide professional and peer counseling not only for the hiv positive children but also for the non-infected ones to help reduce the stigma, they will provide nutritional counselors, they will provide sex education and they will visit the campus monthly to continue the support. All at no cost, ,it is a fully funded program.

 

We were unable to find a way to show our gratitude enough, we simply applauded. As the meeting concluded we gushed out thanks to Pauline and stood there looking at each other dumbfounded. We turned to Ssebunya and again gushed our thanks for providing this contact and arranging this meeting.

 

One year ago, a man walked into an internet cafe. The woman sitting next to him could have ignored him, she could have seen him as a stranger, she may have let the cafe administrator help him. She didn't, not because she foresaw the future, not because she expected a show of gratitude. She didn't because it was the right thing to do. She didn't because it was the human thing to do.

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Volunteers' Blog: Renee Waun (2010)

 

Jan 27
Hello Everyone,
Well, we made it to Uganda last night about 2 hours late, after delays in Amsterdam regarding mechanical problems. Hanan came to meet us in a matatu (taxi van) because we were 3 volunteers with 6 fifty pound suitcases, Hanan and the driver.....much too much for a car! It is the same driver who took us to the Nile last year, so those of you who were on that trip know why I was keeping my fingers crossed for a safe trip.

 

We arrived at the hotel around midnight, and many of our hotel staff friends were there with big smiles and Ugandan handshakes to greet us. Isaac, Mary, Joseph, and several others, all pitching in to carry our big bags to our rooms. This year we are on the second floor instead of the 4th, so we are glad to not have to lug up too many steps. The rooms on 2 are no less noisy than on 4.....!!! Mine doesn't have a TV....oh well.....I remember how there wasn't much programming anyway. Just for reference, I'm in room number 13. (!!!)

 

Del, Bob and I had our breakfast of omelet and bread and tea, then struck off for the ATM and the internet cafe. We are in a different internet place. Fewer, older machines, but a nice breeze coming through. It's still morning and already very hot here.

We got through customs last night by keeping our heads low and not making eye contact with the officers, so we passed easily into the green line.

 

All suitcases arrived ok.....but mine had been rifled through. Hundreds of pens loose among the bandages, socks, ink toner and candy. The plastic bins I had used to protect the microscopes are hopelessly broken, but amazingly, the microscopes seem to be OK. YAY!

 

After we stop at the Indian grocery to buy water we will head up to the school. We heard that Uncle David (headmaster) is thrilled beyond words about the new buildings. The roofs are not quite completed because the building engineer said you can't build that fast in Uganda for solid construction. You have to let the mortar dry in between section of wall construction or else risk the wall coming down. We had one wall come down early on in the process, so we know that's true.

 

Hanan did say that in another week the roofs will be ready. Then we can have the dedication ceremony.

 

After we spend the afternoon at the school we will get ready to visit Hanan's home and family. Some of you know that one of his sisters died recently of HIV. She had kept it secret, so most of her family did not know about the HIV until she died.

 

Hanan's father is Muslim. Hanan converted to Christianity about 10 years ago, and his father disowned him. It was Hanan's mother who invited his family to the burial, and unfortunately, Hanan's father used the funeral gathering as an opportunity to make a public announcement that Hanan and his family were not welcome in his sight because they are Christians. It made Hanan and his family very sad and embarrassed.

 

Hanan's children are fine. Hanaeve (oldest, a boy), Renee Waun (second born, a girl) and Rajeve Kay (third born, a girl) will all be at the house tonight along with Eve and Hanan's niece Latifa to greet us as we share gifts and a meal with them. They are very excited.

 

Well, I'm going to sign off for now. We have a big day ahead of us. Thanks everyone for your good thoughts and prayers for me and the volunteers during this trip.

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Jan 28
Hello Everyone,
I'm going to type fast and let this sticky old keyboard do its thing because I didn’t have time to keep backspacing to correct the glitches. Hope you can read it!

 

Yesterday we visited the school. Hanan took us up through another neighborhood on the way because his family now has a personal business of raising pigs in a nearby neighborhood, and he has to stop by every Wed to pay the caretaker to buy the pig food. The school doesn’t raise pigs any more because the Muslim parents complained about their children being around pigs which is against their religion.

 

It was fun to see the pigs and to see that some of the old beat up lumber from the razed classroom buildings was used to build pens. a great use of the material!

 

We got photos of the largest jackfruit tree I’ve ever seen, and a big avocado tree too. Then we took the back roads to the school.

Since I was there last, LOTS of big houses are going up on the hill around the school, making the property values up there go sky high. There is also a factory going in near the school, which will be a bakery, also making the location more desirable.

That's why the property at the school that we want to buy is SO expensive. The owner knows he can get a lot for it, and he knows the school is supported by Americans. The price for the plot that the children are currently using for their playground is going to cost 15,000 dollars! I think that's a priority, but I haven't met with Hanan and David specifically about our plans.

The new buildings look great! The iron sheets on the roof (those that are completed) shine in the sun. The workmen were plastering the walls o the nurse's station building. They wanted to do that yesterday so it would be clean and dry by next week so we volunteers can start painting it white. Right now the room has a big square floor made of cement. Hanan showed us where plywood partitions will go to block of a reception area, a nurse's office and examining room and a sick bay with two beds. We will have to paint and furnish the whole space. It will be great. Hanan says we will have to hire a nurse full time...one who can do blood tests, etc. for the villagers, and charge money to help pay her salary.

 

He also has an idea for the connecting building beside the girl’s dorm....to put in a computer school for villagers, where a friend of his would program them in the local language of Luganda, so even illiterate people (the ones who can't speak or write English) will be able to learn the computer. It sounds cutting edge to me.

 

There is still a fair bit of work to be done on the roof of the new building. The building engineer said if you build something fast, it will come down fast, so you have to pace it to make sure the mortar is dry and the walls will stay erect! I believe that!

There are not many children at school right now because the minister of education pushed forward the starting day in the country another week. So we are thinking that tomorrow we will go to the craft market and book stores for library books, Saturday we will go to the Nile and Sunday Hanan and I will spend a lot of time going over sponsorship details and other finances and plans, before the onrush of school work that begins next week. As executive director, he has his hands full once the students begin arriving and registering. This year there will be 410 students.

 

Then next week will be the time for us volunteers to get busy and paint the nurse's station. Also, we discovered that Bob is a professional dancing instructor, so Uncle David and Hanan would like Bob to teach at least one group of students some steps that they can use in a future school program.

 

Last evening we drove to Hanan and Eve's new home for dinner with the family. Latifa wasn't there because it is still term break and she is with her own family. But there were two other children visiting. I had brought gifts for them all, but didn't know about the 2 extra children, so I’ll look through the used clothing to find some things for them. But we did have a big bag of chocolate valentine candy that helped in the meantime.

 

Eve served matouke (steamed green banana), rice, peanut sauce, greens (SALTY) and cooked cabbage and carrots shredded and spiced. Bob and Hanan had bowls with fish in them. Bob didn't eat too much of it. I guess he had been observing some of the meat and other items in the local markets.....hanging in open windows covered with flies, etc. and he lost his appetite. Del and I stuck to the veggies.

 

Hanan now lives in a nice neighborhood north of Kampala city. For those who were previous volunteers, the new neighborhood is 10 times more upscale than the former places his family has lived. The word squalor comes to mind. The new place is well placed on a hill, behind a tall cement wall, accessed by a big iron door and gate. Two or three families live in the compound, and it seems really safe.

 

The down side is that it takes Hanan 2 or more hours to get to school in a matatu. A boda boda would be too expensive because of the distance. He hopes that some day he can move closer to the school, but that will have to wait until he feels safer there once again. (He had been getting threats from some bad Nigerian people who were going o rob him and kidnap his daughter Renee for ransom money. The police and people like me advised Hanan to move his family far away from the old neighborhood and not tell anyone where he was going. So far, so good.)

 

It's HOT here. Eve now has a refrigerator in their 2 room home, to keep the juice cold that she makes to sell at the market. She served us cold passion fruit juice and it was delicious. After the salty meal and the 90 minute ride back to our hotel through massive traffic, we three volunteers headed for the hotel bar where we could get more ice cold drinks.

 

Last night was the noisiest night I have ever experienced in Uganda. The hotel has a big outdoor stage where live musicians and (*I think comedians.....don't know because I can't understand Lugandan language....but the voice sounded like he was doing a comedy routine with funny voices, etc) plus drummers, singers, etc. were loudly going at it from the time I went up to my room at 10pm until 6 in the morning. The whole night, that plus all the loud street noises and people shouting, singing, whooping, etc. beeping horns, revving motors, etc. was just unbelievable. I envy people who can sleep through stuff like that. I’m feeling really sleep deprived today.......hope I can stay perky all day.

 

Well, I see that I'm almost out of time so I'll sign off.

 

There's always something new to see, hear, taste and smell here in Uganda. Dell and Bob are keyed into everything.

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Jan 28 Part II
Hello Everyone,
We decided to come to the internet cafe tonight because first thing in the morning, when we usually arrive here, we have an appointment to go with a public medicine doctor to the department of health, to see about getting a license for the Nurse's Station (clinic) at the school. We drove out to Entebbe this afternoon to meet with the kind doctor who advised us in a number of ways. We were filled with questions on how to meet health requirements for our project, so it was a good meeting.

 

We had gone to the school to meet with the carpenter to finalize the floor plan and figure out other details. He will be putting in a "T" shaped partition of plywood, after the floor is coated with cement. The main door of the room will be just to the right of the "T". As you enter, a receptionist will be seated at a simple wooden table on the right wall, and there will be a door in the base of the "T" that will be the entrance to the nurse's office. The sick bay of two beds will be in the back, above the "T" partition, with a doorway into the bay from both the reception area and the nurse's office, if you can picture that.

 

The carpenter will be building an exam table topped with a plastic covered mattress, a big desk and chair for the nurse, the reception table with a chair for the receptionist and a bench for a waiting area, two chairs for the sick bay to position beside each bed. We will have to purchase the two beds, plastic covered mattresses, 2 foot lockers for medicines and other sterile supplies, a washstand for purified water to wash hands with bar soap, an electric socket for the 2 microscopes, three fluorescent lights, one for each area, some linoleum for the floor, and a small refrigerator. I think that's it.

 

The wall plaster looks good and will be ready for us volunteers to paint by next week. It will require 60 liters of paint.

 

The doctor said there are different classes of licenses, depending on what level of care we want to provide. Hanan said he wants to be able to treat sick children there, and also be able to care for staff and their families, and the families of school children and other villagers. We will need to hire a nurse who also knows how to do lab tests, and a supervising doctor who will come once a week or so. Doctors are allowed to be the supervisor for up to 3 clinics, so the man we met with today said he can help us to identify someone, since he already has 3 clinics. (His clinic today was extremely small...much smaller than the one we are planning.)

 

So we will probably have to get the lowest level of license, since we won't be doing operations or issuing narcotics, etc.

Tomorrow we will go with the same doctor who will help us get through the process. He is a very nice man and is impressed with our plans.

 

So we will be going into Kampala for that, and we will have two more errands to do in town: first, to take Hanan's computer into the computer store to find out why his internet connection keeps crashing when we try to do the live chats with Ms. Heather Dean's 5th grade class in Florida. We are scheduled for another chat next Wed so we want to see if there is a bandwidth problem, or a memory problem, or what. We may have to upgrade to a better level of internet. If so, it will cost more, but we really do need to stay more closely connected to Hanan. We would like to have updates at least once every week. He is very willing to do that, provided he doesn't have to spend tons of time just trying to get and stay connected, so I want to start with his internet service to solve the problem.

 

The other errand is to stop at the craft market as well as the Cultural Center where they sell native crafts. It's a great place to go. The craft market is only open on Fridays.

 

It is SO HOT here in Uganda. When we make car trips, it's rough because Hanan and the driver sit in the front, and the three volunteers are squashed in the back, and one of the windows does not roll down. Between the heat and the terrible roads which make us crawl at a snail's pace with no breeze to cool us, and the huge bumps that toss us all over the place, the old body gets really stressed.

 

We are always glad to get out of the car and stretch and feel the air and get a cold drink whenever we can (vendors have sodas to sell, but you have to drink them right down because you can't take the bottle with you. Either that, or pour the soda into your empty water bottle to take along.)

 

We all had to take photocopies of our passports to the hotel office, because Hanan told us that he got a call from the staff saying that they didn't file our registration information soon enough with the police, so now we have to all provide our photocopies. Del and I already had copies, but Bob had to bring his passport to the internet office to have it scanned.

In about an hour we are meeting back at the hotel dining room to greet a young man that I met last year at the internet cafe. I remember being finished with my emails and still having about 15 minutes left on my computer. This man named Ssebunya was waiting to get online, so I offered him my extra time. This turned into a computer lesson where I was able to show him some things, then we bought more time and I continued the lesson. The outcome was that he asked to be able to email me back in the States, which I agreed to, and we've been communicating since then. He's also figured out Facebook and is one of my FB friends. He doesn't have a profile photo, so I told him I would show him how to put one on his profile. So he is glad about that.

 

Enough for now. I suppose by tomorrow night I will have interesting things to tell you about our trip to Kampala. There's never a dull moment there! Oh, one more thing......when we were driving all over Entebbe looking for the doctor today, various passersby couldn't give us very clear directions, so Hanan had the driver pull over to a boda boda stand and hired a boda driver to escort us to our destination. We in the back seat were laughing as we followed the boda driver down this road and then the next, saying that this was the Ugandan version of a GPS. We'll have to think of what the "GPS" stands for, however. Certainly not satellite in this case. :-)

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Jan 29
Hello Everyone,
I am back to the really sticky keyboard....even worse than the last one, so bear with me.

 

To catch you up from last night, we met my internet friend Ssebunya at the hotel. I had promised him dinner with us, but as we all got here around 6:30 they said the kitchen was closed!!! But they could fix us fries and drinks. It was fun seeing him again. He came bearing gifts for me that he had had made by crafters. He had had the gifts stored for a few months, waiting for my visit. When I began opening the lovely bag of things, bugs began crawling up and over, and down into the bag. Everything I pulled out ha d to be tapped on the floor to remove the bugs. They were African cockroaches, and it was embarrassing for Ssebunya (and me too). When I opened one particular item I tilted the cover up and saw that it was just FULL of cockroaches....probably the mother lode. I almost lost it....tried not to throw the whole thing into the air. Ssebunya calmly called the waitress over and asked her if she could dispose of the bugs. She took them into the kitchen area. Heaven only knows where the bugs are now.

 

(But....I did see the mother of all palmetto bugs in the grocery store when I went in there later to buy shampoo to get the red grit out of my hair, and to order a birthday cake for Hanan's birthday next Tuesday.)

 

Del and I left Bob and Ssebunya talking, having beers and watching the Africa cup on the big dining room TV. She and I were tired, but the boys stayed there until around 11pm.

 

I was very pleased that the loud music ended around midnight last night....so I GOT SOME SLEEP. YAY.

This morning we got into the SUV with the doctor who was going with us to the Health Ministry’s office to inquire about a license for our new school clinic. The SUV holds 5 people, so with the doctor, we had 6 and Hanan had to sit in the cargo area....bouncing all around back there!

 

We drove to the same government office building we went to one other year when we met with a district official to report on the progress of our NGO and to thank the officer for helping in that process. This time we had to walk up to the 4th floor to meet with the health officials. On the big lawn in front the staff was setting up four huge tents with chairs, for a lot of women and children who were there with blue papers in their hands. It turns out they were there to apply for assistance for children who have special education needs. Hanan said the politician who invited them is running for office this year and wants a lot more votes for the next election. So that's why he is catering to this group. It sounded so familiar!!

 

The woman who met with us told us that we need to get the nurse's office/clinic equipped, then her office would come out and inspect us, before granting a license. We asked for the list of requirements and she was very reluctant to give it to us, and when we insisted that we needed to know what was required of us before we asked for the inspection, or even before we furnished the room, she offered to let us copy the 10 page document.

 

The doctor who accompanied us went down to the first floor and had to wait in line to use the only copy machine in the building, then make the copies. When he returned we owed 5000 UGX for the copies. Hanan said the reason they don't like to let you know what the requirements are is because then, when they come to inspect, they can find something wrong that can be corrected with a bribe. I guess that means we are one step ahead of the game, for the price of some copies. (Although that doesn't guarantee that we still won't fail the inspection and have to come up with a bribe).

 

When we finished there, we drove into Kampala City to meet with Hanan's friend Fred, the computer expert. We planned to go first to the internet store with Hanan's computer to figure out why it keeps crashing when he tries to access the internet. I was worried that his computer would need to have an overhaul or be replaced or something like that.

 

HUGE WONDERFUL NEWS:........!!!!!! The problem was not the laptop, it was the size\e of his modem. Imagine Hanan trying to connect at a speed of 64! So we spent about 80 dollars to upgrade and now he has a modem with speed of 268. Fred said Hanan will be able to connect much faster and easier, and even have the video/web cam option that we need for the live chats with Heather Dean's 5th grade class in Florida. Our next scheduled chat with her is next Wed, Feb. 3 at 9am USA time. We'll be eager to see how that goes. And this time I'll be here to see if there are any glitches I should know about.

 

I am very excited to meet Fred because he is a genius on computers and he is the one who is developing the software to instruct basic computer skills in their native Luganda language. He will translate all the words in the drop down menus for FILE, EDIT, VIEW, HISTORY, etc, plus "password", "user ID", etc. etc. NO ONE else in Uganda has done this, so Fred will be able to sell his program to the public, and use our school to teach people.

 

Nathan Thomas from Findlay Ohio is working on a plan to send refurbished computers here for us to use in the school. It is very exciting, and I couldn’t' t be more pleased to meet Fred and hear about the plans. The more Hanan continues with this work the more contacts he is making with people like Fred and others who can help us make great progress.

 

After the modem purchase, we drove to the National Theater's Craft Village, where Bob and Del had fun searching out native crafts. Then we went to the craft market where there are about 60-100 crafters of every medium: beads, wood, cloth, ceramic, stone, paper, etc. I resupplied my craft inventory for sales back in the States. That was fun. Del had Hanan to help her bargain, so she got the best prices. Bob got the next best prices because he knows how to bargain. I got the highest prices because they can see me coming a mile away. So I pay $1.50 per bowl instead of $1.25. I mean, really!!!! I can sell that same bowl for $10 in the States. I paid a fair price at the market and will make a nice profit for the school! Everybody wins.

 

Bob and I were finished with our shopping about an hour before Del was, so we sat with cold drinks in the shade, then went to the car to wait. After awhile, however, I jumped and scrambled out of the car because my dress and legs were covered with roaches. I guess they live under the seat somewhere. Anyway, it was kind of sickening. I thought it was my skirt tickling my legs, but I was being nibbled by bugs. EWWWWW!!!!!

 

We got back to the hotel by 5pm while the kitchen was still open, but we found out it didn't make much difference, because the kitchen being open means you can get chips chicken, chips beef or chips fish. None of us eat that anyway....just the chips. So we all had chips again for dinner, this time with chapatti bread.

 

But the cold drinks and the cool breeze blowing through the dining room was great!

 

Tomorrow morning we get into our matatu at 8am to leave for the Nile Rover, Bujagali Falls. We can hardly wait because it's been SO DARN HOT. We will be able to put our toes in the water, have a boat ride to the falls, and have a delicious meal. Ssebunya will go with us, and Hanan's whole family, Uncle David, too.

 

My time is ending. You won't hear from me again until Sunday, if this internet place is open on Sunday. We'll be at the falls ALL DAY.. YAY.

 

This trip is going so very well. Lots going on and we're making good progress on all fronts.

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Jan 31
Hello Everyone,
I think there must be no keyboards here that don't stick...sorry.

 

Yesterday was a great day. Hanan' s whole family were all ready in the matatu when it arrived in the morning. Uncle David, too, and Ssebunya arrived to come with us. Hanan brought the other 2 children who are staying with them during term break. There is now a new section of road east of Kampala.... NEW ROAD...aka paved!! So the trip didn't take quite as long as in the past. Some road scenes....the field of putrified fish guarded by about 100 vultures, a crested crane looking at me from the edge of the road beside a corn field, the fields of ripening tea, sugar cane, mud huts, villages, etc. Still very hot weather....no rain yet. But that's good because that means fewer mosquitoes.

 

I told Hanan this was the first year that one o f his kids wasn't sick on the trip (one time 2 of them had malaria), and then he said, well Kay threw up this morning. ( !!!! )

 

But we had a great, sunny drive into the country. The "rest stop" is a place where a group of vendors are trying to sell bananas, peanuts, chicken on a stick, beef on a stick, cold drinks, etc. When the van pulls into the parking lot, about 3 dozen vendors mob the van, and through every open window there are arms coming in holding the chicken sticks right in your face....all yelling to buy buy buy! Hanan and his family got the chicken (no thanks....glad I'm a vegetarian), others got drinks, bananas, etc. Then Hanan negotiated with the head vendor to just take 20,000 for the whole lot, and please take the chicken sticks out of our faces. Bob noted that the woman outside his window had gotten pushed, sliding her chicken along the side of the van. We were laughing about how many vans who had passed through here now had a stripe of chicken fat drawn along the side.

 

Our traveling conversation included several interesting topics. We discovered that there are 2 kinds of electrical power service in Uganda....one for ordinary people and one for government and higher class customers. It's the common service that powers out almost every evening. and where I thought all remaining lights were powered by generators, it turns out that it's the second level of service that is still working. It costs more, of course. But Hanan said we should get one line like that into the school, so that when we get the nurse's office set up and we have things to run, like the little refrigerator to keep the medicines, blood samples, etc. we will need to have constant service. I agreed. So we will look into that.

 

Hanan is eager to set goals. He said he wants everything at the school to be perfect". As good as possible anyway/. And he wants to attract more and more students. Some of the volunteers remember Julius from Jinja whose parents sent him there (sight unseen) because of the school's reputation, but once they actually came there and saw the toppling wooden buildings, they withdrew him, even though our school was always at the top of the list when it comes to district excellence.

 

Now when parents come, they will see the brick buildings and know that we are measuring up in every way.

 

We have the new buildings, plus the nurse's clinic plus the planned computer school. It will be great!

 

We talked in the van about bribes. Street vendors are supposed to have a license because they take business away from shops, the shop owners complain and the police are supposed to remove the vendors, but the vendors just pay bribes to stay. Once in awhile the police act tough and actually remove one or two, but sooner or later, they are back. It's just the culture.

We also talked about dialects, and the different English dialects that make it hard for Ugandan's to understand us. I assured him that we sometimes have trouble understanding each other, depending on what country we are from, or what part of the country.

 

The topic of zoning came up. I wanted to know how so many homes and businesses and schools, etc could be built seemingly on top of one another (thinking about our school property situation). He said there are no zoning laws. He did say there are certain things that are not allowed to be built around homes, such as certain factories and industries.

 

I had given Ssebunya a beautiful photo book of Pittsburgh which he had great fun looking at and asking about all the scenes. When he saw the one picture of a snowy landscape, he said he couldn't imagine what that would be like. Do we still go outdoors when it snows like that? He said the photo looked like a "cake"...all covered with white frosting.

 

It turns out that Ssebunya is a lobbyist!! We finally figured out what he did, based on the description. So how interesting it was to talk with him abut some things. He works in the area of health and welfare, so o f course he was well aware of the bill before parliament to execute gays. We had a good talk about that. I couldn’t quite get where he came out on that. I think he is still doing research. But he felt quite sure that the bill would not pass.

 

We finally arrived at the Speke Camp at Bujagali Falls. It was beautiful as ever. But it was also sad because the dam at the nearby curve in the river is even now under construction. Soon this whole area will be under water, and many people who work in the tourist industry will be out of work; The rafters, boaters, entertainers, resort owners, cooks, etc. etc. Also, two villages will be under water, and no more washing clothes and swimming in the village areas.

 

We decided to take the boat ride first, because the chicken on a stick was still digesting. So we all went down to the water’s edge. Ssebunya had never seen such a boat....or the falls, for that matter. He seemed very edgy. He first wanted to make sure we would be wearing life jackets, which we were. However, almost all of them were torn and missing straps and zippers. You had to take the remaining parts of the straps and pull them around to the front to tie. Ssebunya insisted on finding one with the straps intact. He also demanded to know of the boatman if he was sober.

 

When we go t into the boat he was freaked out by the little stream of water running down the center of the floor, and seeping in through the metal patching strips. He told the man about it, wanting to get everyone bailing the water out, but no one else seemed concerned bout it. I told him this was not unusual for a boat to have a little water in the bottom. in fact, it is the same boat I road in last year. The man just said "African boat!". Ssebunya was not pleased. But we did have a great ride. The trip included a stop on the far side where we could all climb up to the top of the hill and see the dam being constructed. It was clear by the height of the dam that the place where we were standing would be under water one day. I was thinking about all the gorgeous flowering trees and shrubs at Speke, the wildlife and habitats that would be destroyed. Oh well....it's all supposed to be a project that will improve the electrical output.

 

The trip also included a stop at Sugar Island (also to be submerged one day) to see the class 6 falls up close. It's very beautiful. Some people have been there planting tomato plants.....about a hundred of them all in blossom.

 

When we returned safely, we all went up to the thatched restaurant/bar and had a feast. Cold drinks for everyone, whatever they wanted from the menu. I brought the van driver down to join us, and he was very pleased by that. All the adults ordered the grilled fish (I had the vegetarian curry), and the food was great! After spending a little more time strolling the grounds, it was time to head back. All of a sudden no one could find 5 year old Hanaeve! We started a search party all along the water’s edge, the falls, the latrine, the hillsides, etc. He was nowhere. Finally Hanan climbed the big hill back up to where the van was parked, and there he was. He went up there for some reason and couldn't find his way back. Thank goodness he was safe!

 

Our ride back was very tiring. We ran into huge traffic jams all along the way, but our driver decided he could make better time by going along the shoulder (against the law where I live), but actually it probably saved us about 45 minutes. The trade-off was the BUMPS.. OMG...think "playground spring horse ride on steroids". This place is not for the feint of heart. If my lower back needed work before, there is NO question now. Or maybe that was the best thing for my back. (nah) plus it's just exhausting to hang on for dear life and get bumped around like that.

 

Sometimes people will ask what it takes to come to Africa. I first ask if they are in good health. Walking is not the problem, it's riding. That plus the heat and dust and smog. It takes a toll day after day.

 

Even the dogs here are lethargic. They just lie there all day panting, sleeping, they never bark--I've never heard an African dog bark--- or chase cars or anything. That says it all.

 

We finally got home around 8pm, tired and thirsty. Bob and I headed for the cafe, Del for the internet cafe. I just couldn't bear the thought of parking my butt on anything that wasn't soft at that point. These little metal chairs are so very tiny and uncomfortable, and no place to put your knees, and very hot in there. Even with the fan going overhead.

 

Random thoughts: the other day when we were in Kampala, stuck in traffic, we had the fun of watching a mother stork in her overhead nest, feeding her fuzzy white nestlings. Her big wings arched over them. It was SO SWEET!

 

Coffins are hand made in shops along the streets. The coffins have windows in them, in the ends and sides. When a person dies of a communicable disease such as Ebola or cholera, people would not want to be exposed to the body, but with the windows, they can still have a "viewing". I don't think they have embalming laws here in Uganda, either.

 

The hotel worker named Mary, who was a cleaner last year, now works in the kitchen as a cook. She stopped me the other day when she saw a cell phone in my hand. She wanted to borrow it to call her "sister", her friend. I said, ok....and handed it to her. She said she didn't know the number. She wanted to call Nicole (Bob's mother who was a volunteer here last year.) I thought that was sweet. People here who remember Nicole are fascinated that this big handsome, friendly guy named Bob is her son.

 

And the extraversion must run in the family, because Bob goes around getting everyone's names, making friends, etc. He's great. (Note to Nicole- I love BOBBY! I want him to teach me some dance steps, too.)

 

Hotel: we had a little time to check out two other hotels further away from the noise. Neither one measured up to the standards of the Comprehensive, where we are now. We counted our blessings; big breezy dining room, friendly staff, stores and internet nearby, mosquito nets on the beds, and in some rooms, TV and fan. Of course that assumes the electricity is working.

 

Today we are getting ready to meet Hanan at the school. He and David and I plus another board member will be meeting to discuss all sorts of plans and evaluating things. Bob may try to teach some dance steps to the children, Del will help to greet families who are arriving for the beginning of the term. Maybe they will have a chance o walk down to the little open fire bakery, if it's open on Sunday. They would enjoy seeing that.

 

So....have a great day everyone. More tomorrow

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Jan 31, Part II
Hello Again Everyone,
I thought I'd report on our day's activities at the school. We arrived around noon, and we all did different things. Bob found an electrical outlet to play a Michael Jackson CD, so he could teach the kids some dance steps. He had thought they would be dancing outdoors, but they ended up inside the media center. He wanted to say 20 children at a time, but there were at least 40 in there, the last time I checked. Bob was all covered with sweat and the kids were having a blast...gyrating around, crashing into one another, laughing, etc. I think he taught them two or three different dances. They call this “Bob Dancing”.

 

Del, in the meantime, was having a great time getting to know the girls down in their dorm. She was taking photos, writing down their names and having them say what they wanted to be when they grew up. She had fun doing that.

 

Meanwhile, I was meeting with Hanan, going over the sponsorship list, making sure we had correct information about names, grades, ages, whether they parents, etc. We were doing that as we waited for Board member Jessie to arrive. We got about half way through the list today. We'll have to do the rest another time.

 

David joined us and we had a good meeting. We first built the agenda, with everyone's input. We wanted to talk about the building project, the clinic, the computer lab idea, the academic standards, sponsorships and priorities.

 

We decided that the person we hire to staff the nurse's station/clinic should also be able to do AIDS counseling and testing, as well as STD counseling and other testing. That way, the clinic might become self sustaining if villagers could come and pay for services. I showed Jessie the health requirements we received from the health dept the other day.

 

David was worried that we still needed to do some things to get the new classrooms ready for the students who are already beginning to arrive for the opening semester. The carpenter was busy putting a ceiling in the clinic, when he could be working on the room partitions in the classroom building. Hanan was just trying to accommodate my request to let the volunteers paint the clinic walls, as something we could do while we are here. But it seems that other things are taking priority right now, and the clinic will probably have to wait until after we leave for home. First things first!! We volunteers are already finding plenty to keep us occupied.

 

We talked about priorities for the next big projects at the school. We all agreed that the purchase of the adjoining property is critical, and that should be next. David will meet with the owner tomorrow or Tuesday to see if will bring down the price and if he will accept a deposit with payments. It seems that this is not common in Uganda.....they usually have to pay cash, unless they have a loan from the bank. Although, we might qualify for such a loan, I don't know.

 

Another big priority for 2010 is to explore the setting up of a computer lab, using the computers that we hope to get from Findlay, OH.

 

For 2010, we think (after we have purchased the adjoining property) that we could build a covered dining shelter for the children. It would go along the edge of the playground. Another goal for 2010 is to begin developing the Vocational Training Center, using the computer lab, and maybe also put a few sewing machines in the other end of the room for sewing lessons. We think if we start small, we can build gradually, adding carpentry, catering, agriculture and other subjects as time goes on. Another possible goal for 2010 is to see about installing solar energy. When Michael was here in November he got a price of $14000 for a solar setup, but I told Hanan that for such big projects, we usually take bids from 3 or 4 companies, and let them know they are bidding against each other, so as to get the best price after all. He likes that and will follow that up eventually.

 

For 2011 we think we should expand the Vocational Training School to include a Secondary School (grades 8 and up). Right now, students who "graduate" from P7 must move on to another location for vocational training or high school. We would like to offer both options right here, especially because most of our sponsors will probably want to continue to support their students after P7.

 

Regarding the sponsorships, we certainly do encourage our sponsors to stay with their students after P7, so we must find a way of doing that, because they will be going in all different directions, making it impossible for us to administrate the funding. We still have to figure that out. It would be so much easier if we just had our own post-primary education available right here at the school.

 

We also brainstormed ways for the school to raise more money on its own. The subject of students concerts came up. They used to have a band that would play while children sang and danced, but now the instruments are all wearing out and they are down to two rather shabby trumpets. Uncle David asked if I thought we could figure out a way of getting a new set of brass instruments for their band, so they could continue to do the fundraising concerts.

 

New instruments over here are very expensive. For example:
trumpet $615
trombone $920
tuba $2500
French horn $615
bass drum $510
trap set $300
cymbals $150
Sousaphone $5000
drum major baton $60

 

We Americans were thinking we might find some good used instruments to send over here. Does anyone out there know of any? There might even be a foundation somewhere that collects such instruments to send to places like this. If you have any thoughts, please let me know. It would be a great investment in the fundraising capability of the school.

 

While we were brainstorming a Wish List, we also added a school van, so children from more affluent villages would be able to be driven to the school, affording more tuition support. The van would also be used for other school related errands and deliveries, which now we must pay for as needed. The van would cost $16,000.

 

Well, you see it doesn't take much to brainstorm a great Wish List!!

 

While we were doing that, Bob and Del had an escorted walking tour of Mutundwe by former student Brian, who used to work at the school as a carpenter. He is now in college. I asked him to take Bob and Del down the road to get some cold drinks (Bob was covered with sweat after all that dancing)....and also to visit the local bakery. There, they sell breads and rolls that are cooked over an open fire. The US Health Dept would have a fit if they could see such a place.....dough laying on strips of cardboard on the ground, ashes flying everywhere, barefooted workers walking in and around the dough pans, etc. But I have to say, the final product is quite good.

 

Bob and Del came back with a bag of mandos (big round fritters) to share.

 

Well, now I'm going to sign off. The hotel is setting up for another big playoff game tonight, so we want to get some food and vamoose before getting crowded out by the rowdy soccer fans who come to drink and watch the game. Everyone knows Egypt will win, but who knows? Actually I think they've won the African title for as long as the game has been played, but what do I know? Imagine, 43 countries in Africa playing for the ONE team that is called "Africa" in the world cup!! Amazing.

 

We also saw yesterday where Sabrina Williams won her 5th Australian tennis title in a row, tying with Billy Jean King. Will she play again next year to try to beat her? Probably!

 

I know nothing about either sport, but while in Africa.....do as the Africans do, I guess.

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Feb 1
Hello Everyone,
Well, Egypt won the Africa cup. The score was 0-0 for a long time, and just before the end, Egypt scored. I think the entire region around Kampala sent up a huge cheer. Did you hear it? And then, of course, the partying went on all night long (loud music from every quarter, plus dancing.)

 

Random thoughts: when we were all riding in the very bouncy matatu the other day, we hit an extra big bump and the center roof brace let loose and came crashing down, knocking a water bottle out Hanan's hand. Thank goodness it didn't hit one of the children full force! So Bob had this great Swiss army knife with him. He flipped the tools up and down until he found the Phillips screw driver, then he and Hanan had do some creative maneuvering while the van was still in motion, to re-install the overhead brace of the van!

 

The Board member I met yesterday named Jessie is a godsend. She herself runs a vocational school, so she knows all about budgets, work plans, time lines, etc. She said she would personally help Hanan to stay focused and on plan, and when I gave her a big hug, I told her she was my new BFF (translation, Best Friend Forever.)

 

This morning I walked up to Barclay's bank to make a large withdrawal, to save on transaction fees from the ATM. I was told I would have to go to the main branch on Kampala Rd., so I’ll have to do that later.

 

Today Hanan and I will meet with the carpenter to see what is still needed to complete the building project. The extra structure we added to the plan added more expenses, so we will be figuring out the time line and work plan for that.

 

Students will be arriving today in great numbers, with all their gear: footlockers filled with supplies, personal items, etc. They will have mattresses, wash basins, water cans (Gerry cans), etc. Everything must be accounted for and documented. Then names written on everything in big black marker, because all footlockers look pretty much the same.

 

I will try to work through the rest of the sponsorship list today, too. It takes quite a while to go over each name, checking the spelling, grade, age, sponsor name, whether the child has parents or siblings, etc.

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Feb 1, Part II
Hello Everyone,
Well the cafe is full...one computer is down, so the manager let me use his computer, also a sticky keyboard. All keyboards are picking up the red dust and making them sticky.

 

This morning we went to the school to watch the workmen who were up on the roof, adding the iron sheets to the classroom building. Hanan was giving orders to the ones who would be putting on the plaster on the outside of the building. It will take a crew to complete the work by next week, but it will be done in time for the celebration.

 

On the way to the school we ran out of gas, and had to back down a very bumpy and steep hill to a place where we could park while the driver took a boda boda to a gas station to get about 2 liters of gas. Because it was taking so long, Bob and Del decided they would be brave and take boda bodas up the rest of the way to the school. I got some great video of them climbing on the motorcycles and zooming up the rough road.

 

Meanwhile, the children are arriving by every possible means...walking, riding boda bodas, taxis, cars, bicycles, matatus, etc. all weighed down with their footlockers, mattresses and other belongings.

 

Hanan and I went into town to try to get the bank wire from ESUUC. We found out it is there ok. Also, I did a direct cash withdrawal from the ATM card so we could get some shopping done for the nurse's station.

 

it took forever at the bank. At the Orient bank the rates are cheaper for withdrawals, but their computer system was down, so we had to go t Barclay’s where the rate is higher. Oh well.

 

All that took about 2 hours! Then, on the way back to Nateete, we went to an appliance store to look at small refrigerators for the nurse's office. We liked the one that cost about $300.....imagine that.....more expensive than the States for that size. So we went to a used appliance shop with refrigs along the road and on into the store (made of iron sheets, etc.) There we found a used refrig that is big enough for all drugs and blood samples, plus enough freezer space to prepare ice cubes for ice packs. We stopped the car and Hanan had the driver go first to ask the price so they wouldn't see the mzungu (white person) before giving us a price. The price is always higher for mzungus.

(Aside: when we were going to Bujagali Falls Park on Saturday, we had to stop at the entrance to pay park fees. Hanan always tries to tell the guards that we are all Ugandans. Right. We really all LOOK like Ugandans. I had told Hanan that I didn't mind paying the mzungu price, but of course, he tried again to get a discount by saying there were only 2 mzungus on board. Right. We ended up paying the fair price, for 3 mzungus and a whole slew of kids and the adults. I certainly didn't mind, but it was funny to think that Hanan tried to pass us off as native Ugandans!)

Anyway, back to the refrigerator. The driver was the first to ask the price on the apartment sized frig, then Hanan tried to bargain the owner down. Finally they settled on 390,000 UGX (about $200) which was a fair price. So we bought it, and our driver will go later tonight and pick it up.

After returning to the school and seeing the progress of the workmen today (amazing!!!) we all returned to the hotel. Ssebunya met us at dinner to give Del some materials from the ministry of heath to teach the staff tomorrow about hand washing. She was very grateful to get all the information and will be preparing her lesson tonight. We all had chips and some sugar cane that Hanan stopped to give us. Yummy!

So now we are all at the internet cafe catching up.

It really was unbearably hot. But now the sun is going down and the breeze is picking up. Whew.

Hanan and I talked about the value of having a music band at the school. He said that with a band, they could give concerts to earn money, plus the band would be hired to play music at government functions, plus the band would be in parades wearing school T-shirts, drawing attention to the school and possibly getting more students that way. It all sounded really good, so we are hoping to get all the instruments we need. I have heard from at least one person about how we might do that. (thanks David).

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Feb 2
Hello Everyone,
This is the worst keyboard gain. Sorry.

We met with Ssebunya last night and he gave Del some materials to use in her presentation today. He had the official program for teaching hand washing, which is what she focused on.

So we left the hotel early to get to the school in time for a 10am presentation to the teachers and staff on hand washing. Del brought in a big can of water, the visual aids from Ssebunya, the pamphlets, some soap, a basin and gauze pads for drying, because we didn't have any towels.

Del did a beautiful job of making her presentation. She used simple words and gestures, and stopped for questions. Then she asked every person to step forward to demonstrate what they learned by washing their own hands. It was great. It became a ritual because before each one started, they gave a little speech about how very grateful they are for all that we are doing, the nurse's station, and especially the new classroom building! Then they would proceed to wash their hands. The first fellow ended up with some red dirt on the gauze, so it became a demonstration of how to make sure our hands are clean before drying them.

All in all, things went really well.

Meanwhile, classes were taking place as more students are arriving, along with the builders and carpenters and plasterers working like mad on the classroom building to get it completed by next week. Hanan assured us that it will be finished, and I have to say, I am amazed at how much they are doing each day.

Now, when you arrive at the school, you don't see the old dilapidated buildings any more, you see the clean lines of the bricks, the pretty metal and glass windows, the prepared place for the cement walkway. It is all very exciting

After Del's lessons, Hanan wanted us to visit two secondary schools, to see if we can form a partnership for the sponsored students who will be moving up to secondary school. There is one nice high school within walking distance of our school, which would make sense for the day students, since they are currently walking to school from the village. we met with Noah the headmaster, a very wise gentleman who has been in education for several decades. He told us that he is the one who taught Idi Amin how to speak English!

Then we drove quite a ways out into the country to visit a school where the headmaster is a friend of Hanan, whom he met at a regional gathering of school directors. Patrick, the headmaster, has a similar outlook and vision as Hanan, that's why they became friends and perhaps partners with the secondary students we may send to them. The school was started in the 40s and went through some bad times, but Patrick has turned things around and the school looks good. It looks like our school might look some day. We were impressed by the pastoral setting, where the garden is full of ripening pumpkin plants and surrounded by a field for cows and goats.

The 5 of us talked about how to follow up, and we will be talking with Carolyn Glass, our sponsorship coordinator to see how to communicate with the sponsors about the future

By then it was time to return to the hotel to pick up the birthday cake for Hanan before driving to his home for a special birthday dinner. The cake was beautifully decorated and said "Happy Birthday Hanan" on top, and was tucked into a cardboard box without a top on it, so when placed into a large plastic bag, the frosting got a bit messed up on the bouncy ride to Hanan's house.

We also took along some more clothing....a dress that would fit Eve, a dress for Halima, a T-Shirt for the other little boy, too because we had nothing for them before. They were very pleased.

When we stopped at the hotel to drop some things off, Bob went up to his room and EVERYTHING was GONE! All his luggage, his clothing, his water and crafts, everything. Even his passport was gone from his secret hiding place. We rushed down to ask Dora the manager what had happened, and she said that the maid thought Bob had asked for a different room, so she shifted everything to the room across the hall. Well, Bob was puzzled, not knowing what he had said to cause this confusion, but very relieved to discover all his things safely transferred over to the new room on the back of the building. It turned out for the best anyway, because we had some rain this afternoon and there was a big puddle of water on the floor of his old room, right where all his things would have been. Whew! Adrenaline was rushing!

When we arrived at Hanan's home, Eve had prepared rolex (no, not watches, but chapatti wrapped around fried egg mixed with onions, tomatoes and carrots), some cooked cabbage and onions, some matouke with peanut sauce and rice. then we had all the children gather around as we sang happy birthday and Hanan cut the cake. He said children don't use the word cake for cake, they call it "happy birthday". The frosting was creamy and not too sweet, and the cake was coarse, probably made of whole flour, maybe some cornmeal, raw sugar and a little allspice. They had enough to share with their neighbors.

Hanan took a moment to check his email while we were there, to see how the new modem was working, and discovered a message from former volunteer Steve, who said he should ask me to explain Groundhog day, since it was also Hanan's birthday. So, I explained it, and we all laughed that that's how we remember what day is Hanan's birthday.

After dinner, baby Kay wouldn’t stop crying.....she had been sleeping and saw the white faces and was afraid. She never did settle down, even after we said good bye and were on our way.

We drove back tot he hotel during a magnificent sunset...wow....Hanan and I talked about the kindergarten class. He knew I had once been a Montessori teacher and so he wanted to know how to incorporate the theory into the school. As we were talking, we passed a sign, not too far from his home, for a Montessori school. I told him he should visit that school some day to get ideas. He probably will.

Before arriving at the hotel, Hanan got out of our car to find a truck to use to pick up the used refrigerator we bought yesterday. He will deliver it tonight. Today, when Del told the staff about the refrigerator, they all sent up a cheer. Actually, they cheered about just about everything, but they really liked the idea of the refrigerator. Now they can make ice packs for injuries, etc.

Well, it has been such a long HOT day....sooo extremely humid. Makes it hard to sleep. Actually I don't mind the cold shower because it feels good!

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Feb 3
Hello Everyone,
I get to use the administrator's computer while waiting for another, but you can tell the keyboard is just as bad.

 

Well, the mystery of why Bob's room got change is solved. Two evenings ago I left a note on the floor in front of Bob's room which said, "Please remember the transformer from your room". He had put the step down transformer that I use to recharge camera batteries in his suitcase when we were dividing up luggage, and now I needed it to charge up some batteries. He gave me the transformer, but left the note on the table in his room. Talk about "lost in translation"....the maid thought he was asking to transfer his room!!! That’s how that happened! We were able to laugh about that this morning.

 

Bob is looking for a shop that sells black electrical tape because there are several wires at the school that are frayed and have to be twisted together to get current. EEK. (Steve, you remember that from another time, I think.) So he will try to cover the wires. Of course, the current source will be turned off when he does that.

 

We are thinking we might be able to do some painting today, if the carpenter in the clinic will let us. He still has a grid of scaffolding all across the floor, that he stands on to install the ceiling. But maybe we can stand on and beside the grid to do the painting.

 

We also hope to visit some classes to see how the teachers are doing. They don't mind.

 

Del, who is our African American volunteer is getting a tan line. I am fascinated by that. Those of you who know Del may find her to be a couple shades darker when you see her next time.

 

We are preparing to do a live chat with Heather Dean's 5th grade class in Florida today. We are doing this at 9am USA time, 5pm Uganda time.

 

We'll see how the connection is at that time. Now that Hanan has a faster modem, it may work well. If not, he would like to try the reverse schedule......9pm here, 1pm in FLA. In that case, however, Hanan would have to spend the night at the school, because of the long commute to get home afterward. He would ask the children who do the chat to take a little nap so they would not be too tired at 9pm. I personally hope that the plan we are trying today works, because it is more convenient, but we think 8am there and 4pm here would be even better.....perhaps for next time.

 

I just stopped at the ATM to make a withdrawal, and one of the 50,000 UBX bills came out torn in half, so I had to go into the counter and exchange it for a good one. Some of the bills are so old, fragile and dirty, no wonder they tear!

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Feb 3, Part II
Hello Everyone,
Well, it's Wednesday, meaning that the loud music will start up again tonight. Monday was their night off. Ahhhh. Then last night, the power went out around midnight. Ahhhh. Tonight, not so. The concert begins in about an hour and will last for HOURS!!!

 

Our hotel staff surprised us this morning with a different breakfast: fried plantains with peanut sauce (six each, way too many for one person!) and jackfruit. Del said it was the best thing (jackfruit) she's eaten so far!

 

We arrived at the school thinking we were going to start painting the health clinic, but there were no drop cloths or painting supplies. Hanan said we didn't need drop cloths, the floor was covered with red dust and would catch the paint splatters, and be scrubbed off when we were finished. I didn't buy that. I want sheets of plastic film for drop cloths. We can find them, but by the time we organized the idea, it was too late to go shopping.

 

To use our time wisely, I sat with Uncle David, Hanan and teacher Joseph to complete going over the sponsorship list, getting all the current information on each child. It took awhile. But we finished it. I was surprised to learn that almost all the children on the sponsorship list have no parents.

 

Meanwhile, Bob had found some electrical tape and was standing on a bench stretching up to re-do the wires overhead. They were frayed and needed to be separated in some places before wrapping!

 

Then Hanan and I took 5 of the brightest children into the media center to work on an interview that was requested by a woman who is writing a magazine for children about children around the world. I was to ask them questions about energy...how they use it, what kinds they use, etc. It took us about an hour to complete the questionnaire. They were fascinated by my solar calculator, when I showed it to them and explained how the sun powered it.

 

Uncle David knew we were going to be staying later at the school, so as to do the live computer chat with Heather Dean's class in Florida at 5pm (9am her time). Hanan brought his laptop to the school for that, with the webcam and new modem.

 

Around 3pm Hanan and the volunteers were meeting to discuss how to update the website in order to help people see the progress we are making, and the future plans and goals we have. we talked about how to invite people to contribute to the land purchase. I will make a sketch of the campus so far, with the proposed purchase shown in the sketch. I was trying to draw the outline of the land, but was having trouble getting it to scale, so Bob offered to pace it out and give me some rough measurements so the drawing will be more accurate. There is no survey that belongs to Hanan....if you want to see it, you have to go to the government land office and they will show it to you. You can't even make a copy of it. But there are stones planted by the surveyors to show the boundaries of our land. It's an odd shaped piece we have, and an odd shape that we hope to buy. The drawing will help.

 

While we were talking, four children filed down to where we were sitting in the shade and presented us with special meals: braised chicken legs, matouke, Irish potatoes and greens. Uncle David wanted to surprise us. The children delivered the plates on bended knee, which is typical here in Uganda...they give you something while kneeling down. It's very humbling!

 

I'm sure it was the very best food that they had. But a mountain of matouke was too much for each of us. I struggled with the tough chicken. None of us used our fingers because our hands were filthy. The fork served as a handle from which to rip off strips with the teeth. Not very ladylike.

 

None of the volunteers finished our matouke.....but there were children standing ready to finish it off for us.

 

Then it was time for the live chat. Hanan, 5 children and we three volunteers all assembled in the media room and plugged in the computer. It booted right up, and the new modem worked perfectly and fast! Wow. We were eager to chat! But within 3 minutes, the electricity went off in the whole village. I texted Carolyn Glass (our standby go-between) to let her know that we were going to try to get everyone down to the internet cafe.

 

Luckily, a matatu had just arrived at the school to deliver a bunch of children, and we were able to pile everyone into that for our ride down into Nateete. It took a few minutes of waiting to get started because Hanan had some more instructions for the workmen before we could leave. Then we were on our way. The girls wanted to be close to Bob!

 

We headed down the road and after we got past the village we realized we had forgotten someone's mother who was going to ride with us, so we had to back all the way up the hill to retrieve her. Then, started down and got in a jam with a car coming up that got stuck, and we couldn't get around her.

 

Finally we both inched this way and that until we were able to continue down the hill. But then we ran into a herd of the long horned cattle in the middle of the road, so that slowed us down, too.

 

Hanan decided we should go to the hotel to use his computer, so we headed there. We could see that the power was out all over Nateete, but we knew the hotel had a generator they could turn on, if we explained why we needed it.

 

When we got there, we thought the power was on so we went up to my room but no lights. Nothing. We went back down to the dining room to find a plug and get the manager to turn on the generator. Now we could boot up. By then it was 45 minutes later and we only had 90 minutes. But we did get the computer started, Hanan got into his email and clicked on the link for the chat.

 

But then an error message came up that his version of the Flash drive required for the chat was out dated so he would need to download another version. There was also a link he could use to bypass the new version, which he clicked. Unfortunately, that froze the computer and we spent several minutes trying to unfreeze the computer.

 

We did a restart, then Bob suggested we go ahead and download the new version of Flash, so he started the download. That done, Hanan had to restart again, then get his email to come up, and then click on the chat link again. This time it went through, and it takes about 2 minutes to load.

 

Then a cheer went up when we finally got into the Safari chat screen, but it happens that Miss Dean's class had had to sign off about 5 minutes earlier.

 

Hanan said this is very typical, but I must say the children here handled the disappointment very well. They got to ride in a matatu with some mzungus, see a hotel room, sit in a breezy dining room, have cold sodas, use clean flush toilets and watch a little bit of TV on the big screen. So it wasn't all bad, huh?

 

We said we wanted to try again while I am still here. We hope Miss Dean will contact me with another date. We are leaving Wednesday and our big celebration and program are on Tuesday, so maybe Monday would work. I hope to hear from her.

Meanwhile, Bob had H's computer because he feels there is something wrong....too much CPU being used to do simple things like get into Internet Explorer. So we'll see. The webcam wasn't even working today. So Bob will have to download the driver for that. Hanan doesn't have the CD any more.

 

Miss Del is hurting tonight because when she got out oft he SUV at the school this morning, she lost her footing on the gravel and fell down. She should have had an ice pack, but no supplies were at the school yet to make one. She is really feeling it now after all day of sitting, walking etc.

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Feb 4
Hello Everyone,
So imagine Ugandan karaoke. I wish Lionel Richey wasn't so popular here. Imagine someone trying to sing "Stuck on You".....hitting that sustained high note over and over again.....about 1/4 pitch off.....and LOUD. GROAN.....I wanted to yell STOP!!!!!!!!

 

There was also a man who used various voices and sound effects that I suppose would have been a comedy routine (a very long one) that might have funny if I understood Luganda (local language). But late at night, LOUD, and competing with the Volvet Club DJ across the street on the other side, made it very challenging to read my book before trying to sleep. The power, unfortunately went out during our chat, but was on good and strong throughout the entire music fest.

 

Speaking of the Club Volvet across the street, they are having a contest tomorrow night to choose Miss Volvet and Mister Volvet. Maybe that's also karaoke. We don't know. Maybe a talent show? Cover charge is 3000 shillings. We were laughing at breakfast because Bob was kidding about entering the contest. We told him he might have an unfair advantage, being white and people thinking they had to vote for him. Then there is the possibility of starting another local riot. So I think he will pass on the idea.

 

I wanted to mention a very poignant scene at the school yesterday. It was finally the day that volunteer Del found and greeted her two sponsored children. Hanan brought them down to her and it was just downright tear jerking. In fact Del knelt down, took them gently in her arms, squeezed them both to her face while she just cried and rocked them back and forth. It was a very powerful moment for all of us watching. Of course we had to take plenty of photos. Hanan explained to the children that she was their sponsor. You should have seen their faces. It was precious. Del asked me today if I thought it would be ok to purchase some shoes for the little boy, because his were in rags. Neither of "her" children have parents. Most of the sponsored children do not have parents.

 

Nicole's sponsored girl Joan (pronounced JOE-en) loves the idea that Bob is her "adopted brother”, and of course, Bob himself has a sponsored child there, and he got to meet him. We have set aside at least two days to update all the children's photos. (Good thing it's not today because it's raining like mad--cooling things off a bit.)

 

I now have a sponsored "child". Previous volunteers will remember Brian, the carpenter's apprentice who is so good at math, and just an all around wonderful kid. He wanted to go to college and Uncle David took Brian in and wanted to help him. Classes started last Monday. The problem is, teachers' salaries aren't really big enough to send students to college and he has been struggling to pay the bills. So I said I would pay for Brian's college expenses. (Here in Uganda, college is about $350 per term, imagine that!) Uncle David's face lit up like the summer solstice when I told him that. He kept asking me to say it again, because he was sure he had not heard me correctly (David's English is marginal). He finally "got it" and almost hugged me. Well, actually I think he did.

 

The next day, which was the second day of college classes Brian showed up wearing a clean, bright orange shirt, neatly laundered pants and a big smile, as he came to grab my hands and thank me. It was just too wonderful to imagine this wonderful young man getting the education he so deserves. So off to class he went!

 

I was locked out of my room for about an hour last night. After going back to the hotel from the internet cafe I couldn't find my key and realized that the last time I had it was when I was opening my room to let the children in to do the chat (before we saw that the power was off). When we went down to the dining room, I had laid the key on the table and forgot about it. When I returned to the hotel, I looked all through my bag, checked the table, under the table. I talked with Dora the manager to see if someone had turned in my key...no.....so she went into the dining room where people were watching the big TV and threw on all the lights. We looked everywhere.

 

Of course, they have only one key per room. No skeleton keys. No spares. She said the hotel owner would get a locksmith to come the next day (at my expense) and put a new lock on my door. I just sighed. I was so tired, hot, needed a bath, to put my feet up.....Del gave me a chair to sit on in the hallway while waiting for Dora to do another search among hotel staff. Then Bob saw us and we told him the problem. He said, let me check Hanan's computer bag (Hanan had left his computer for Bob to check to see why it was operating so slowly). It turned out that someone had tucked my key into the side pocket of the bag...THANK GOODNESS!!!!!

 

This morning, Bob said that he checked H's computer and discovered that the problem is that widespread culprit: red dust!! It was so full of dust that the fan was choking up and stalling the computer. There were also some updates and maintenance things to do, but nothing major. So this morning Bob is off looking for some little tools, like a mini Phillips screw driver, some aerosol air and other things. Hanan stopped by at breakfast to see how we were doing and was pleased at Bob's analysis of the computer!!

 

Well, the rain is letting up. The street vendors are slowly uncovering their mountains of shoes, magazines, dishes, bananas, etc. When we get to school we will see how much mud we are dealing with today. I hope the roofing was completed yesterday!

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Feb 4, Part II
Hello Everyone,
Well, the great painting adventure has begun, and Del treated the first patient in the nurse's office today. Let me explain.

 

We arrived at the school, getting mobbed by children....especially Bob. The kids just pile all over him, pinching his arm hairs, grabbing for his hand. They ALL want him!!! I had a few doing this to me, too. I have a small mole on the back of my left hand and this seems to attract a lot of attention. They want to pinch it and point to it and show it to their friends. They don't know what to make of it.

 

Most of the children were really busy cleaning the campus. Hanan and Paul the teacher were wearing their big mackintosh rubber boots because of the mud. Children were all working....all of them...picking up trash, sweeping dirt, scraping mud, hauling scrap metal up into the storage room, stacking building materials into neat piles. The campus is theirs and Hanan wants them to take good care of it. Which they do.

 

So we volunteers went into the nurse's office (AKA the clinic) to begin painting. The carpenter brought in a wash basin and a roller and a big can of primer made by a company called "Budget". It was fairly watery paint. We had had some children bring 4 of the old iron sheets into the room to use as drop cloths so the paint wouldn't splatter the floor. Well, at least that was an honorable thought. It turns out the metal was so extremely noisy when stepped on, like bubble wrap times 1000, and not as much fun. Bob and Del and I wrapped our hair to keep the paint off, and I slipped a big t-shirt on over my dress. I decided to take my shoes off because I only brought the one pair (crocks) and also took off my socks (yes, I wear geeky socks with my crocks, but I get blisters without them and I don't care what they look like).

 

So I'm in bare feet standing on the rusty old iron sheet. The carpenter filled the basin with paint, then showed my how to just dunk the whole roller in and let it drip before rolling. Thank goodness for the improvised drop cloth! Paint was going everywhere. It was going on very thin, so we were told to go over it twice. I couldn't quite stretch high enough to get to the ceiling, so Bob was going to do that with the brush. Del was using a dry brush to scrape and dust all the plaster dust and red dirt off the window sills and floor joints so the roller and paint brushes wouldn't drag through all that dirt.

 

I was just getting into a rhythm when my big toe caught the edge of the iron sheet and opened a huge cut. At first I just stood there thinking RATS, but then I realized it was a very deep wound. Del immediately sprang into action because now I was starting to bleed all over the floor.

 

She helped me to the door where we had a big audience of children watching us, but now, at the sight of mzungu blood, lots of children came running over to see. Bob said that just yesterday children were asking if white people had blood, and what color it was. Did we have belly buttons? Nipples? etc. etc. So now I was the visual aid for a biology lesson. While Del took a bottle of pure spring drinking water and poured it over my foot, my blood was pouring out all over the floor and running onto the ground outside the door. Del then took some clean napkins we had saved from breakfast and applied firm pressure to the cut while I gave a lesson to the children on how all people everywhere have blood and the blood is red, just like theirs.

 

Bob happened to have a Band-Aid in his pack, so Del wrapped that tightly around my toe. By that time, the toe was really killing me, so I lay down on the plywood sheet in the middle of the floor and propped up my foot to keep it from throbbing. It was hurting like "H". The kids were very interested in the whole process.

 

Del made me drink some water, saying I had lost a lot of blood, then she took my pulse to make sure I wasn't going into shock.

I felt like a real nerd, flat on my back with my foot propped up while Del, Bob and the carpenter got the whole room painted with the primer coat.

 

This is traditional construction, meaning that the floor is cement, the walls are hand spread rough plaster, the roof beams made of wood poles and nailed at all different angles, and ceiling made of plywood sheets, not necessarily installed evenly across the room.

 

So the materials are quite uneven, but that's the way they do it here. They are thrilled. Actually the outside of the classroom building and clinic are really very attractive now that they have been coated with plaster, and their carpenter will paint the structures with the usual gold and reddish brown, to finish the look. Every time we pull into the school now, I'm struck by how different and how wonderful things are, compared to what they looked like before!

 

Everyone keeps saying how grateful they are!

 

Yesterday when Del, Bob, H and I were sitting in the shade, talking about future plans, it happened to be near the original big tree where H put the wooden desk to take registrations that first year (2005). He loves to reminisce and tell the story to the volunteers of how after the first year, they were $100 short and they emailed me asking for help. He says that I sent not just $100 but $150, and then, there by the tree where it all began, he said something very poignant and powerful. He said "Mutti (the name he calls me), you have no idea how much power was in that $150. If it hadn't been for that, our school would have ended right there and then. I was ready to find another job and give up on the whole idea of having a school."

 

When we heard him say that, and then look over our shoulder to see the 410 students, the girls and boys dormitories, the media center, the new classroom building and clinic, the multi-purpose building going up, the computers and library books, we were all struck by the power of a dream.

 

After the room was painted one coat, we got into the SUV an d headed back to the hotel. To former volunteers: the big downhill road that was SO BAD in the past is now being graded. Right now there are 2 ton piles of fresh dirt spaced every 50 feet or so, and the earth mover is working from the top down. AMAZING!!! They also have new storm drains along the side where the matatu was submerged in the ditch last year. So things are improving.

 

I'm not sure if I'll be able to do painting tomorrow. We'll see how my foot feels. Del instructed me to soak my foot in cold water, put Polysporin ointment on the cut, cover with gauze and tightly wrap with a bandage, then drink eat something and take some ibuprofen for pain.....all of which I did.

 

Then I limped down to the dining room balcony where Bob was already seated having a cold drink. He had noticed that the hotel can cook samosas (those Indian triangle things with the peas inside) so we ordered some of those. He was also Brave and ordered some sausages. He said they tasted like red hots.

 

He avoided the chicken because earlier this morning, while we were waiting for our driver, we wandered to the back of the hotel courtyard, peeked through the fence and saw the hotel cooking kitchen. There was a big mountain of dead chickens, half covered with feathers, all looking gray and sickly. Next to that was a mountain of green bananas, and then a mountain of what they call Irish potatoes (white potatoes, as opposed to yams which are common here).

 

Behind all that was a new cooking structure going in. we saw one similar but smaller at the one high school we toured the other day. It an outdoor furnace type stove for an open fire, but with a walled shelf in a circular opening that holds the big cooking pots. The fire is under the stones and the stones do the cooking. We heard that they can use half the firewood with those. We would like to get something like that some day for the school.

 

Enough for now. I want to get my foot elevated. Perhaps if I'm not able to paint tomorrow, H and I can purchase the remaining items for the clinic. Hand washing stations, foot lockers, etc.

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Feb 6
Hello Everyone,
I'm sorry to be complaining about the heat and humidity when I know most of you are shoveling out of 10-14" of snow. (Thanks, Bob for the photo of Chestnut Street!!!)

At least it rained a lot today and brought a little relief, but the humidity is still high.

First things first. My foot is much better. In fact, when I got back to my room I did all the procedures prescribed by Nurse Del and was able to get my shoe on yesterday and help with the painting. I solved the "not wanting to get paint on my only pair of shoes" problem by tying plastic bags over my feet. Voila!

The first coat of primer had dried, but the carpenter told us we would need two coats. The paint looked like glorified whitewash. The second coat helped. It went much faster than the day before, too. When you imagine the walls being painted, don't imagine they are like our walls at home. These walls are pretty primitive cement, meaning that from time to time a blemish will open up and spill a bit of red dirt and sand out onto what you just finished painting. Thank goodness for the second coat that will cover some of that before we use the more expensive vinyl paint for the final coat.

After painting, we took the car back to the hotel to wash the paint off our arms and faces, changed clothes and went into Kampala to the computer store where Hanan had originally purchased the computer. He always goes back there with his computer and they know him, which helps. Bob wanted to purchase some compressed air to unclog the fan, etc. but they don't sell it anywhere here. We also wanted to find the driver for the webcam that Hanan has because since he moved, he can't find the CD. So the store people were kind enough to take the CD from a new webcam and put it into Hanan's computer for a download. Unfortunately, the CD mechanism was also gummed up and wouldn't work, so I happened to have my SB media card adapter, and Bob had them copy the driver onto that, and he will try later to get it onto Hanan's computer, after he cleans it up. We are determined to have the thing up and running for Monday's chat session with Heather Dean's class.

We did get a notebook cool pad for Hanan's computer. It's a little shelf with built in fans that keep the dust from going into his computer. He will have to keep that running the whole time his computer is turned on.

This must be baby stork season, as the big stork nests that adorn so many trees around here (especially in downtown Kampala) have fluffy white babies in them. I think Del got a pretty good photo of mama stork feeding her babies. She had to lean way out of the window to get it.

After the computer store, we swung around to the National Theater's Craft Village once again so Del could purchase a drum. She had her eye on one special one. It looks great, sounds great, and she got a GREAT deal on it!

While Bob and I waited in the car for Del and Hanan to get the drum, we purchased what we thought were newspapers from a street vendor. His paper was called "Red Pepper" and mine was called "Onion". Both of them were actually more like National Inquirer, and full of red hot spicy stories of people and their sexual escapades. Bob and I had some good laughs over some of the words we found in the articles!

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a foot locker vendor who sold both those and the hand washing stands we are looking for for the clinic. The ones he had were covered with dust and rusted in the seams. My theory is that the road dust that collects on the metal is full of iron, and when it gets wet it creates rust wherever the water settles. I told Hanan I preferred to get items that looked a bit nicer....at least without all the rust and little scratches. Esp. for the nurse's station/clinic.

In the evening, Ssebunya came to meet us at the hotel, to explain a text message he had sent me two days earlier. He wanted to tell us that a woman named Pauline from the Baylor Univ. section of the big hospital in Kampala (the biggest referral hospital in Uganda) talked with him about wanting to help the school. Her organization is looking for people they can test for HIV, and then provide free treatment and peer support. She has money to spend and is looking for an easy way to spend it, without having to go door to door. Ssebunya had told her about our school, so she wants to meet with us to set something up.

We spent a lot of time talking with Ssebunya about HIV, how to educated children, the cultural aspects of the disease here in Africa, of sex education, etc. etc. He is a wealth of information.

I invited Ssebunya to visit the school today because he had not seen it yet, and still he was willing to vouch for it with Pauline. So today, being Saturday and Ssebunya didn't have to go to work, he went with us to the school to visit. It was raining so hard we couldn't paint today. Plus, the roof isn't fully covered yet, so the rain was coming in and was making puddles on the clinic floor. It was not a good day to try to take photos of the sponsored children, either, so we decided to do other things.

Bob went back to the hotel to work on Hanan's computer. Ssebunya went on his way, and then Del, Hanan and I drove to Kampala to work down through our list of clinic supplies.

Note about the big piles of dirt waiting to be graded on the road that goes up the big hill: Just because there are piles of dirt here and there, that doesn't mean there will be an improvement any time soon. The amazing thing to me is that they feel such a need for huge speed bumps. Then I thought, maybe the piles of dirt are to make new speed bumps. I'm not sure, either way, it's rough going!!! But the boda boda drivers weave and dip and bob in and out of the ruts, with passengers and all sorts of cargo either on the back or the front, or sometimes both....and they get there faster!

This morning, there were hardly any bodas or bicycles on the road because of the rain, so there were a lot more matatus filled with people going here and there, making for big traffic jams.

Our first stop on the shopping trip was to buy soap for the clinic's hand washing stations. Hanan took us to the factory that makes an organic soap called Skin Doctor. It's good for treating wounds, rashes, allergies, dry skin and germs. He went in first so they wouldn't see the mzungu and right away call out higher prices. He was inside for awhile, then returned to the car under a big umbrella, carried by one of the salesmen. Hanan wanted to show me the bars of soap. We tried to figure out how much soap the clinic would use in one year. We had no idea, but it was finally the price that settled it. We decided that 500,000 UGX was just too much to put out for soap just now, so we bought one case which cost 240,000 (about $125 for 72 bars).

Then we went to the place on the other side of Kampala which must be "back to school" central, because they had dozens of vendors selling foot lockers, mattresses, backpacks, etc. etc. We pulled up along side of the curb by the foot locker section and were immediately bombarded by men lugging their wares over to the SUV windows. Hanan told them to please step back, and I let him do the talking.

Del and I thought that we should establish a color scheme for the clinic, to make it more appealing, so we went with blue footlockers. Then we got 2 blue basins for the bedside tables.

The man who had crafted and painted the footlockers also made washing stands, but he was out of them. We ordered 2, painted with the same blue color.

Del and I wanted to get towels for the clinic, so Hanan showed us a shopping center where they sell nice things. All set prices, though. No bargaining there. And the prices are surprisingly high. This is the same place where we had looked at new refrigerators, and ended up buying a used one. The towels were $7 each, and Hanan thought that was terribly high. He suggested that he knows a place that sells used towels. Del and I just looked at each other, thinking about the used towels and how we wanted everything in the clinic to be nice and new and sparkling. I rejected that idea, and bought 5 of the towels, promising to send more from home later.

We also looked at glassed-in cabinets in the furniture section, and here again, the prices were unreasonably high, for Uganda. Hanan said his carpenter could build a cabinet that would have doors, three shelves and a lock, for all the examination instruments such as blood pressure cuff, stethoscope, etc. etc. And the carpenter would charge much less than the cabinets we saw for $150. OK OK....let him do it. We'll ask him tomorrow how much he wants to make the cabinet.

Before leaving the department store, we purchased a big blue plastic covered waste basket for the clinic, and four liters of bleach so the nurse can make disinfection solution to clean up blood, etc.

Then, back through horrific and slow traffic to Nateete, where we shopped for bedding. First we bought two mattresses to go on the two sick bay beds that the carpenter is making, then some pretty blue sheets. They only had double bed size, and the clinic beds are singles, so Hanan said they will cut the sheets in half, giving us four pairs of sheets and four pillow cases. Perfect. They will have to wash everything before they can use them in the clinic, because they have been tucked into plastic bags in this humid weather, and smelled awful.

We purchased two fuzzy child sized blankets--blue with big flowers on them--and two pillows. The pillows had to pass my strict "smell" test, however, because we can't have a mildewy pillow in the sick bay. We can wash sheets and blankets, but not pillows. We got two nice ones!

The last shopping stop was next door to the mattress place where we purchased 15 meters of plastic flooring, 2 meters wide. It looks like oil cloth, but that's what they use on the floor. We picked a pretty blue and white pattern which will look great with the other blue accessories.

 

We didn't get any photos today, and we still have painting to do. We'll have to do that tomorrow!

Now back to a note about last night. I may have mentioned that there was to be some sort of contest last night at the Volvet Club across the street from the hotel. While we were all out on the hotel balcony socializing with Ssebunya last night, Bob kept watching the door of the Volvet Club to see if many people were going in. He had found out that the contest was a "beauty" contest for women (Miss Volvet) and men (Mr. Volvet) and he was itching to see what that was all about. So he got Eddie, one of the bartenders to go with him later.

Apparently the place was packed. Bob and Eddie walked in and Bob said not too many heads turned when this mzungu passed by. The chairs were set up audience style facing a small stage where there was a DJ playing music. Bob said the 5 women contestants were all pretty and the men were all wearing Speedos and showing off their toned muscles.

He and Eddie had a couple of drinks, but the music was so loud they couldn't hear themselves talk. When they decided to leave, Bob called the waitress over and made some gestures like he wanted to pay the bill, which he did, but there *might* have been a miscommunication because the waitress tried to whisper something in Bob's ear. He couldn't hear her, so she wrote something on a piece of paper and gave it to him. It turned out to be her phone number and name "Suzan". ?!?!? I guess Bob would have gotten at least one vote for Mr. Volvet!! How funny is that!!

Well, I'm settling down with a strawberry yogurt drink, some freshly roasted peanuts, some grapes I bought from a vendor (they don't look much like grapes....I'll have to wash them first), a chapatti made on the street, and a chocolate bar from the Safari market. What a feast~!

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Feb 7
Hello everyone,
I've been hearing from my friends and family up north....it seems the snow has shut everything and everyone down up there! Wow, almost 2 feet in some places. My African friends find it hard to believe. They can't even imagine snow.

 

Yesterday, when it was raining so hard, it was also laundry day at the school. We stood inside the door of the clinic watching little girls wringing water out of the sheets and other things they had lying out to dry. Today will be better.

 

Notes on tradition and culture:
I (and the volunteers) notice things the people here don't even see. For example, I tend to notice things that I identify as having grimy finger marks (walls, furniture, etc.), squashed bugs on floors and walls, mildew in bedding, litter virtually everywhere, mountains of it (great place for cows and goats to graze), paint drops on the floor and moldings, rips and holes in the plastic carpets, mud stains on the outside (and inside) of buildings, uneven seams in the ceiling panels, warped beams, crooked nails sticking out. One day the media room which had just held a class was so littered with papers, plastic bags, torn composition pages, etc that I asked Hanan to have the children come back in and pick everything up.; They did a fair job.....but then I pointed out how the door was continuously squeaking, every time someone came in or out, or when the breeze blew it ever so slightly. Hanan just laughed at me. "You Americans notice things that we don't even see!!"

 

I realize that I am still not able to see without my "westernized lenses". I need to work on this because I definitely do not want to appear judgmental, and I certainly don't want to offend anyone. I've been to Africa 7 times and I still have to remind myself to slow down, change my expectations, adjust my standards, etc.

 

When we were shopping for furnishings for the clinic yesterday, I was thinking about all the things I could buy to send over here, but then I realized that what sick children want to see when they're in sick bay are familiar things. Things like the blankets THEY have over here. The plastic carpet THEY are used to here, even if the edges are frayed and a bit torn. They won't even care. They won't see that. What they WILL see is the brand new, lovingly provided and equipped nurse's station, and we are all glad about that!

 

Lesson: focus on what is wonderful.

 

Today is sunny. We will probably paint the silicone coat on the clinic. We must start taking photos of the sponsored children, starting with the boarding children, since it is Sunday and the day students will not be there. Tomorrow we can do the day students and the classroom photos, as long as it's not raining. Photos of children don't turn out very well indoors (dark room, dark walls, dark skin= too dark photo)

 

This evening Hanan and we volunteers are going to be on the radio. Hanan hosts a talk show every Sunday evening at 7pm, called "Thinking". It used to be called "Every Child Deserves to Go to School". It's a 30 minute program. He has to pay for the air time, but he says it's great publicity for the school. He used to have a small office set up in an outdoor market which cost something...to promote the school and register children. But for less money he can have this radio show and reach perhaps 1-2 million listeners (he said).

 

He does the show in Lugandan (the local language) but tonight he will be interviewing us in English, possibly translating a bit. He will be asking why we are here, why we feel this is important, etc. When he doesn't do interviews, he finds topics on goal setting, improving your leadership, etc.....all topics he gets from the several books I sent him a couple years ago on business practices. We are looking forward to tonight!

 

Well....happy snow to all. I think all your church services (up north) are cancelled, so enjoy your down time and have a nice cup of hot chocolate for me!

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Feb 8
Hello Everyone,
Well yesterday was such a busy day! We arrived at the school and began organizing the children to take photos. That was quite a process! Not all of the children have yet arrived at the school, plus it was Sunday, so the day students weren’t there. We'll have to finish the photos another day....but it may have to wait until Wed...our last partial day in Uganda.

 

Bob used the time to pace off the school property so we can make up a sketch of the current land we own, and the plot that we hope to buy, so we can put it all on our web site, in order to begin raising the money we will need to buy it.

 

Then we went back to the hotel so Bob could show Hanan the updates and other tweaks he had made on H's computer. It runs faster, but still freezes up sometimes. The CD drive won't work at all, and he needs more RAM, and the battery is dead. But otherwise it seems to be working ok, including the webcam.

 

Our next chat will be either Mon or Tues at 1pm Florida time, so we hope Miss Dean will be able to confirm one of those times with us.

 

Ssebunya met us at the hotel to go over the plans to meet with Pauline, the lady from Baylor College who wants to do AIDS testing, treatment and peer support at our school.

 

Then we had to make plans with Hanan as to the format of the radio show we were going to do later. We left the hotel around 5:30, in order to get to the station by 7pm when the show airs. It was amazing to us how fast we were able to go because it was Sunday night and the stores were mostly closed and there was hardly any traffic. Wow. Never got to drive through the streets of Kampala at a fairly normal speed before.

 

The neighborhood around the radio station had a lot of big buildings, and some fancy districts, seemed upscale, at least until we got to the street where the station was. The station itself is in a tidy little compound, freshly painted in an egg custard color, with black trim. We parked outside and Hanan reached through the iron gate to release the slide bolts from top and bottom so we could enter.

 

We were greeted by Moses, H's friend and co-presenter for the show. We had about 45 minutes to wait for our turn at the microphones, and in the meantime we could hear the radio broadcast over the outside speakers. It was a Christian station and they were playing music in Lugandan language.

 

While we were waiting I decided to use the "facilities". It was a pit toilet around the corner from the courtyard where we were waiting. As soon as I entered I saw a very large "something" skitter across the wall. It was a lizard. OK. I decided that I could deal with a pit toilet....I've used them many times, but not in the company of an unpredictable lizard that could spring across and land on my back at any moment. So .....well.....I could wait until I got back to the hotel!

 

Then it was time for our program. It was a 30 minute program, beginning with a nice commercial about African Rural Schools Foundation and the ABC Divine Foundation School.....well at least it "sounded" nice and cheerful, with music and a nice deep James Earl Jones type of voice speaking in Lugandan.

 

We were seated in a small room with a long wooden desk equipped with three microphones and a sound engineer's desk with all the controls, right next to us. As soon as the advert was finished, Moses started off speaking, and then Hanan spoke, explaining that we were going to mix Lugandan and English this time, because there were three mzungus visiting who spoke English.

 

Each of us volunteers briefly introduced ourselves. Then Hanan asked us the question, what brought us to Uganda to help at the school. We each spoke, then Hanan translated each time. He asked questions, we answered, then he translated. He asked about our backgrounds, about child sponsorships, about the tremendous need in Uganda and what we thought could help, etc. etc.

 

The 30 min went by quickly, and at the end came the 1 min advert for the school again. Then we were finished! Moses had us wait outside while they made up a CD of the program, which we then played in the SUV on our way back to the hotel. It turned out really great! Bob is going to see if he can get a copy made at the internet cafe, so we can bring one home and make more copies.

 

When we returned to the hotel, I've never seen so many people there!!! The entire "concert" audience area by the stage was packed with people, the outside TV viewing area was packed, the inside dining room was completely full....some kind of World Cup game.....there was no more room in the parking lot for cars!!! Probably more than a thousand people at the Comprehensive Hotel buying drinks and having a night out.

 

Of course, the Club Volvet across the street was in full swing also, with music. So, it was quite a noisy night.

 

I wanted to mention one interesting conversation that we had with Hanan. I had asked him if Ugandans can tell the difference between tribes people. He said that most of the time they can. The central people have flatter, blunter noses. The ones from the west had long, more pointed noses and they are not very friendly. The Acholi tribe in the North have the blackest skin....he said they are mostly the ones that are hired to be night watchmen and guards because they look so menacing. But to be honest, they have the biggest smiles with their bright white teeth, and they are very friendly. We know most of the names of the guards around the internet cafe and the hotel.

 

This morning, Ssebunya came to meet us at the hotel at breakfast. He said our appointment with Pauline is set for 1pm so we need to leave the hotel by 11. Hanan, meanwhile, took 3 of our 4 suitcases full of clothing and medical supplies up to the school. The microscopes are still in my room. We'll get them later.

 

Our driver Charles drove into Kampala yesterday afternoon and picked up the washing stands that we had ordered. I saw them. They are nice and new, with shiny blue paint to match the footlockers the same man had made, with bright silver legs and soap dish. We just need to get the right sized buckets to put in the bucket ring. The 20 liter vat has a spigot welded to the front, and the water then goes directly into the bucket.

 

So today we'll meet with Pauline, then we may have time to go to the school for awhile. We have a lot of photos yet to take.

Another day, another adventure.

 

P.S. I asked Hanan how many people would be listening to the radio program we did. He thought a moment, and then said, probably about 2 million!!!

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Feb 8, Part II
Hello Everyone,
What an absolutely FABULOUS day!!!! Ssebunya met us at the hotel, Hanan came with the car and away we went, off to the biggest hospital in Uganda, the Mulago Hospital. It's not far from the best university in Uganda, Muterere University.

 

Our appointment with Pauline was for 1pm, but we arrived early, so we decided to look around the hospital. We entered through the side entrance in an area that looks down over the "Casualty" door (ER). We passed by a sort of registration desk. No one asked to see ID or the purpose of our visit. There were lots of people wandering around. Many people sitting on mats outside the door, too, waiting for....I don’t know what.

 

We saw one of the patient wards. Patients, visitors, nurses, doctors milling around. We were snapping photos here and there when one of the nurses approached to ask who we were and what we thought we were doing there. She was an elderly nurse wearing a white uniform, and was very gracious and quiet with us, explaining that she didn't want us snapping photos there. We immediately put our cameras away. Hanan told us later that sometimes people are angling for a bribe, which we could have offered, but I say the nurse was genuinely concerned. I would be if I were her! There were no security passes for people walking in.

 

Ssebunya had said that there were two parts to the hospital. The old part an d the new part. I thought we were in the old part, but Ssebunya said no, this was the new part. (Makes me wonder what the "old" part looks like!)

 

We went out the same way we came in and walked up the hill where beautiful trees and gardens were planted. The buildings reflected partnerships with American organizations. I saw the Walter Reed Program on one building and we went in there. I had once served as an Army Reserve chaplain in the AIDS unit at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Wash DC and was interested in what they were doing here.

 

Once inside, we stopped by the reception office and asked if we could have a tour. The man we were referred to said we could come back at 2pm for a tour of the labs.

 

We decided to go over to the part of the hospital where our appointment with Pauline was....the Baylor College of Medicine Children's Foundation. There we saw hundred of women and children waiting to be seen in a big waiting area about the size of a bus station. The man who greeted us found out that we had an appointment with Pauline, and that we were a bit early, but he called her to let her know we were there.

 

She came down to greet us. She is a beautiful young professional woman, very well dressed and dozens of gorgeous little braids all done up in back. She also speaks excellent English. She manages the program.

 

She first explained that all the children we saw (hundreds of them) were all there to be tested and treated for HIV. There was one group of about 60 children all seated on a big woven mat at one end of the large room, watching a fun children's program on a big screen TV. A great way to be entertained while waiting.

 

Then we saw the corridors where children had their blood drawn, and had their treatments. Up the stairs was a beautiful big board room where we could sit and talk undisturbed. Because this building was part of Baylor College, it was built according to American standards, even the board room with its giant wooden table and executive swivel chairs and air conditioning. (ahhhhhhh)

 

Once we were all seated, Pauline proceeded to explain what they do for children, including testing, treatment and peer support. Ssebunya then asked her to tell us what she had told him about what they could do for our school.

 

Now here comes the AMAZING part: she has teams of people who go out into the field (aka places like our school) to find children to test for HIV. They would come out and test every child, staff member and child of staff members at the school....for free. They use the kind of test that gives immediate results so they would know right away how many of our students are HIV+.

Even before they would do that, they would come out and give a presentation to the whole school so that all the children and teachers would understand what they were doing and even more, to keep the HIV+ children from being shunned after they found out their status.

 

Then, they would come out once or twice a month to deliver the medication to our new clinic, and our nurse would dispense the meds every day to the children who needed it. They would need pills twice a day. The team also provides facilitation for peer support. Pauline said that often children isolate themselves when they are HIV+, but as soon as they get into groups, they open up and feel more "normal".

 

And the best part of all this is that everything is FREE!!!!!!!!!! The HIV+ children and family members are treated for as long as they need it. That is just so amazing and wonderful. And to think they will be working at our school! The program is largely subsidized by Bristol-Meyers drug company. And there are several other American agencies in partnership with them.

Also, they do nutrition counseling so the school will know if certain children will need dietary supplements. We’re not sure what that exactly means because the food budget is limited, but at least we might be able to make some adjustments.

WOW. WOW WOW!!!

 

After everyone exchanged information, we had spent over an hour with Pauline and it was time to go back to the Walter Reed building for our tour. A very nice man who seemed to be some kind of manager took an hour to show us all around the labs. They are inspected by our own FDA, so they have to measure up! Everything was spotlessly clean.

 

We saw freezers (temps down to -145 degrees), lots of refrigerators, centrifuges, machines, computers, lab workers in white coats wearing thick blue rubber gloves, bio hazard containers everywhere, special sinks, lab equipment, microscopes, etc. etc. And it was kept very cool in there because of the nature of the work.

 

They were testing blood for HIV and other diseases, and they were also working on a vaccine for Ebola, the disease that kills you quickly and is very contagious. It was all very fascinating.

 

I have to say that my eyes welled up with tears when I realized the implications of what we were about to do for the children at our school. It just seems like some kind of miracle, how everything just keeps falling into place for the good. I am thrilled!

 

We came back to the hotel feeling the success of our day, and all had refreshments....food and drinks at the end of the day.

 

Tomorrow is the special children’s program that Uncle David is preparing for us. There will be speeches, presentations, singing and dancing. If we have time, we will take more photos of the sponsored children. Then we go to Hanan's home for our farewell dinner with his family. After that we will come back to the hotel for our live chat with Heather Dean's 5th grade class down in Florida.

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Feb 9
Hello Everyone,
When I got back to my room last evening, there was no running water in my room/bathroom. The power went out briefly, too, and when it came back on I realized I'd rather have water than electricity. I really needed a bath and to wash my shoes. (You have to wash you shoes every night here, to get all the red dust and clay off them. Shoe polishing by street vendors is big business here.)

 

Our first stop today was to Hanan's big church to meet with his senior pastor and mentor, Isaac. Kay Martin may remember the church. Today it is still under construction, with many beautiful floor and wall tiles being installed at the entrance, and the structure rising to three stories high. The pastor's office is on the third floor. We walked up and the waiting area was filled with women who were probably there to ask for some kind of assistance. Hanan announced our presence to the secretary who got us in to see the pastor after about 15 minutes.

 

He was very glad to see us and to hear about the progress at the school. Hanan considered the man as a father to him, since he gives such good advice and is such a good role model, and because H's own father has disowned him. The pastor talked with us for awhile, and then had us all join hands while he prayed for continued success of the school. He said that next I come to Uganda I should consider preaching for him!!!

 

This morning we took the big suitcase with the microscopes, step down transformer and other supplies to the school. We got there around 11 and the program planned for us was to begin at 1pm, so we had some time to kill.

 

Del decided to check in with one of the girls named Christina (one of Rev. Oswald's sponsored children) who had insisted on leaving a tightly wrapped head scarf on her head for her school picture. Hanan had explained that Christina was embarrassed because she had cancer on her ear and didn't want anyone to see it. So we took her photo with the scarf in place.

 

Then we found out later that she had tried to pierce her own ear lobes with a dirty needle and got an infection, actually in both ear lobes. It wasn't cancer after all. Nurse Del decided to have a look, so she took Christina into the unfinished clinic while I guarded the door, and she examined C's ears.

 

Instead of ear lobes, C had a growth about the size of a ping pong ball on each side, and Del could smell the infection the minute C unwrapped her scarf. We decided that she needed immediate treatment by a doctor, so we walked her down to the Hope Clinic (the nearest doctor) to have her evaluated.

 

We didn't have to wait. Dr. Ebbenezer could see her right away, since only one other patient was there at the time. (By the way, if the Hope Clinic is any indication of the inspection standards of the health department, we will pass with flying colors!!!)

 

The doctor looked carefully at both of C's ears, then wrote out a prescription for three things....an antibiotic to get rid of the infection, ibuprofen for pain, and some kind of ointment that she needs to use twice a day that will cause the growths to eventually dry up and just fall off.

 

The doctor charged us 2000 (about $1.20) for the visit. He was very curious about Del and me....who we were, where we are from, what we are doing in Uganda, etc. When we told him about the school and the proposed clinic he was very interested. He even offered to be our supervising doctor. It makes sense because his clinic and ours will be close. Whatever the nurse at our school clinic can't handle, we can refer to him. I told him I would have Hanan talk with him about the idea.

 

The pharmacy was the next window over, so we submitted the prescriptions. They had everything but the ointment, so I paid for the rest and promised to return later this evening when the ointment will have arrived. Then we went back to the school and had a private meeting with Hanan, Christina and the matron, to discuss C' s treatment. The doctor had told C to remove the scarf because it was making things worse. We found out that C had done the piercing TWO YEARS ago and she's been suffering with this ever since, and very embarrassed. We all encouraged C and told her she was beautiful without the scarf.....and her friends would stand by her until she is all better, which shouldn't be too long.

 

By then it was getting close to program time so I attached my video camera to the tripod and got ready to set it up. The program was going to be in the new classroom building, in the room at the bottom of the block, and they removed all the plywood partitions for the first time, to make an auditorium for the entire school.

 

The students had strung two bed sheets from the ceiling timbers to make a "backstage" area for the sound technicians who would run the music accompaniments. they had also used every blackboard in the school to make a kind of lean-to structure at the back of the stage area, to represent the old wooden classrooms. It was very clever.

 

The program began with the head teacher Uncle Paul giving a welcome speech, then he introduced the children who first sang a song, then everyone stood and sang the Ugandan national anthem. After that, there were more songs and dances. I think Bob was having a great time watching the kids' dance steps. He just couldn't sit still.

 

Then came the original play that Uncle David had written. It was all about ABC Divine Foundation school, with its old wooden classroom buildings. They began with a group of little children coming out from the lean to and playing typical schoolyard games, as if they were having recess. Then they went back inside, and a student dressed like Uncle David entered, followed by a boy in a suit and a girl in a grown-up looking dress and head wrap. They were supposed to be inspectors, who looked at the old wooden lean-to and complained to the headmaster that unless this old classroom block was replaced by a permanent one, they would close the school.

 

The "headmaster" shook his head and looked like he was pacing and praying, when another pair, dressed like a mother and father with a small child entered to talk about registration in the school. The "father" was asking about the school, the "mother" was looking at the old wooden buildings and saying "NO WAY" , we will not send our child here. They went on like that for a few minutes, then left.

 

Hanan, who was seated next to me leaned over and said, "That situation used to happen once in awhile before the new buildings went up!"

 

The play went on like that for a few minutes, and then in came the "volunteers from America": Rev. Renee, Del and Bob. They had chosen characters who did a pretty good job of impersonating us. It was very cute. The girl who played "me" is Victo.....one of the older girls who is a very good singer and dancer in previous programs. She is also one of the children who will take part in tonight’s' chat. "Rev. Renee" gave a speech about how she would help to build a new classroom block, then the others spoke, and the play ended on a very happy note with much applause.

 

Then it was time for introductions and speeches. The man who had been the landlord of the school property before we purchased it was there to bring greetings. He had given us such a good price and he is very proud of how the land has been developed. He is also on Hanan's board of advisors. All the teachers and staff were introduced, and finally I was asked to come up and make a speech.

 

I thanked all the children and especially Victo for playing the part of "Rev. Renee" so well. I explained that when we announced the new building project, we heard from a wonderful woman from New York named Peggy Macchetto who wanted to help in a special way, so she is the primary benefactor for the new classroom block. I then read the letter that Peggy had written to Hanan, and then I presented H with a plaque to hang on the outside of the building which says, "John F. Long S.J. Classroom Building, February 2010". Everyone applauded loudly.

 

Then it was time to dismiss for lunch. The volunteers and Hanan got into our SUV and headed for Hanan's home for a nice lunch prepared by Eve. She was there with just Kay, since all the other children were at school. I had seen Latifa earlier at the school. She came up to me and said, "Do you remember who I am?" I recognized her sweet smile immediately and said yes, and gave her a big hug and asked her if the dress we left for her at H's house fit, and she said yes, it did.

 

Our lunch consisted of rolex, cooked cabbage salad, French fries, rice, peanut sauce and freshly squeezed passion fruit juice. It was delicious. We said our last good-byes to Eve (and Kay, although she is still terrified of white people) and went on our way.

 

Not from their house, on the highway, we were about to pass an older woman who was trying to board a boda boda with a boy of about 10 years who was flailing all over the place. The woman was having an awful time trying to keep his arms and legs still so they could ride. Hanan immediately said we should stop and offer them a ride, which we did.

 

The boy was having seizures from malaria and couldn't hold still. His grandmother was frantic, as was his mother, who jumped on the boda and followed us as we sped to the hospital. We had put the nana and child in the front and Hanan in the cargo area, Nurse Del was right behind the boy, cradling his head and holding his hand. He was a very sick little boy.

 

Every time we looked back to see the mother, she was almost in tears with worry. Charles, our driver did his best to get us there fast, including sidelining some traffic by going down the center of the road. Finally we arrived at the Muslim hospital. They were Muslims. This was the largest Muslim hospital in Uganda (in actuality it isn't very big, but it looked like it would be sufficient). The women thanked us profusely. The poor grandmother, trying to hold the sick child, had her head scarf slip completely off, she tried to pull it up but couldn't. The most important thing was the child, as they ran toward the entrance of the building.

 

Now we are back in Nateete, waiting for H and the students to show up for the 9pm chat session with Heather Dean's class. We are very hopeful this time that the chat will work. Keep your fingers crossed everyone!

 

Tomorrow is our last day here. We will spend some time at the school hoping to get some more student photos. The ones we don't get will be left to Hanan to try to get. It really takes a long time to do it, and we have done our best with our To Do list.

We have to leave for the airport around 6pm. One more night at the Comprehensive Hotel. There was no concert or DJ music last night.......ahhhhhh........no telling about tonight. The main thing is, I hope I have water in my room......I need a bath!!!!

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Feb 10
Hello Everyone,
After leaving the internet cafe last evening I ran into Ssebunya who had been trying to reach me all afternoon. He had come to tell me that he has set up a meeting for me and Hanan with a woman named Brenda from a Canadian agency that he thought we might partner with. I have no idea what that's about, but if Ssebunya is involved, I'm sure it will be good. So this morning, before going to the school for the last time, we will meet with Brenda. I have to say that Ssebunya gets an A+ for persistence and dedication. I'm so glad to have met him!!

 

Del was able to purchase a little pair of black school shoes for her sponsored child, as she noticed his shoes were really ragged and falling apart. One shoe wouldn't even stay on any more. So she will give him the shoes today.

 

This morning Dora brought us hard boiled eggs and samosas with hot sauce for breakfast, along with the usual instant Ugandan coffee and spiced milk tea.

 

Last night we hosted four students and Hanan at the hotel for our chat with Heather Dean's class in Tampa. I had to clear a big space in my room for those five plus the three of us volunteers, because the dining room was too dark and noisy to conduct any sort of computer event. So the students all sat on the bed, Hanan on a chair, Del and I in chairs behind the computer and Bob hovering around, troubleshooting with the computer.

 

The power had gone out, then we couldn't access Safari Live chat, then the computer froze a couple of times and we had to reboot about 3 times, trying Internet Explorer instead of Firefox. FINALLY we were able to log in, but it takes a long time to access the site, watching the little percentage numbers climb with agonizing slowness to that 100%. It almost hit the 100 twice before starting over again by reloading the page.

 

At last we were in! We got to see and (almost) hear Miss Dean's class. The Club Volvet music had already cranked up for the night, so we had to put up with that, interfering with our ability to hear.

 

We also go to see Carolyn Glass in Pittsburgh, and what looked to be Aaron as well.

 

Our computer froze up a couple of times and had to keep reloading the page to get it back. All in all we had about 30 minutes of this sort of on-again, off-again chat, but the students here enjoyed it. They seemed a bit shy, having trouble thinking of questions. Hanan was asking them to say their question in Lugandan and then he would type it in English, and that seemed to work best.

 

Bob thinks that by having three video screens going at the same time in the chat box, it requires too much bandwidth here to stay afloat, so for future reference, we should try to have only Uganda and Tampa on the screen at the same time.

The Safari software seems to require a lot, too........we agreed that it would be ideal if Heather's school would allow one of the common chat screens like MSN Messenger, etc.

 

Before bed I went down to the store where those two Indian men are always there waiting on people. The young one always is so friendly to me and smiles broadly whenever I come in. I asked if he works all day and all night, and he shook his head and said "yes!". I don't think he ever gets a vacation.

 

I asked for the best bug spray they had, took it up to my room and sprayed the heck out of the bags, under the bed, etc. Unfortunately, I didn't realize I was almost annihilating MYSELF in the process. If I had read the instructions first they probably said, fog and then LEAVE THE ROOM for two hours. I had a bit of trouble getting to sleep with the HEAT, the NOISE and now the BUG SPRAY!

 

So today we will meet first with Debra, then go up to the school to see what we can do. up there before we leave for the airport at 6pm. Dora let us keep our luggage in our rooms until we leave. Isa came to see me last night. He is very sad that we are leaving. He loves his American friends and would like us all to stay. He remembers us all: Steve, Kay, Wil, Nicole, Michael....and he will miss us, even with the promise of returning again next year.

 

So now, I'm off for the day. I may be able to check in again one more time before we go to the airport.

 

Feb 11
Hello Everyone,
This is my last installment on the Uganda trip 2010, and I'm writing this from the Detroit airport, after two LONG 8 hour flights (Entebbe to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Detroit). We have a five hour layover here before flying back to PGH.

Yesterday morning, we collected all our luggage and stored it at the hotel while we had meetings, etc. First we met with Ssebunya and Debra (not Brenda, as I had said before) and Gloria, two women who work with homeless women and children in Kampala slums. Many of the them are HIV+ and she was giving me all the information about their multi-faceted programs, hoping for some sort of connection with US agencies or any other organizations that can offer help. I took her card and said I would do some research on that.

Then we loaded up the suitcases that contained adult clothing for the staff and headed up to the school for the last time. Soon after we arrived, the lunch bell rang (and iron tire rim hanging in a tree, "rung" by hitting it with a stone). All the children poured out of their classes with their cups and bowls, and lined up for maize and beans, the littlest ones first.

While the children were having lunch, Hanan wanted me to do a video of him expressing his deep thanks to Peggy Macchetto for her enormous generosity to the school for the construction of the new classroom block. He said he would rather say his thanks than write a letter, so that's what we did. I sat beside Hanan while Bob operated the video camera.

Then after lunch, Hanan lined up all the children by classes so we could get class photos (by class). We did not have time to do any more individual children. Perhaps Hanan will be able to do that later on.

After the photo session Hanan brought out the suitcases of clothing and the teachers all gathered around and pulled shirts, dresses, pants, skirts, tops, etc. from the pile. They were very happy with their new things, including the clothing that we three volunteers had left behind for them.

Of course, there had to be one more medical emergency for Nurse Del to handle. A little girl had injured her bare foot while filling her water jug at the well, and her toenail was also torn off. So Del brought her up to a shady spot to wash and dress the toe.

All during the morning and afternoon activities, there were 4 men hand digging a long trench from the edge of the school property, all along the driveway and out to the road. They were installing a new water line (aka a great big roll of plastic tubing) that will connect just above the neighboring water line. That should fix the pressure problem we were having with the old water faucet, whose connecting pipes were all rusted out.

One of Hanan's advisors is named Hilda, whom Hanan had called to ask if we could meet with her before we went back. She is the wife of a building contractor who does American style building (way out of our budget for the classroom project!). She agreed to be an advisor a couple of years ago, and I remember talking with her by telephone from the school there one time, when she had called Hanan from London where she was getting her master's degree in project management. What a great person to have on our advisory board!!!

After saying our final good-byes and giving hugs all around at the school we got into the car, went back to the hotel to freshen up, get our luggage and said our good-byes to the hotel staff, then started out for Kampala where Hilda was waiting to meet with us. We met her in her husband Ken's office downtown (Michael and Nicole will remember that office from last year), and there we talked for about 45 minutes, bringing her up to date with everything that's going on at the school. It was a very productive conversation. She is extremely pleased to be part of such a great endeavor, and with her skills in project management, she will be looking around the world on the web, to research grant money for different aspects of school programming: education, capital improvements, music and art, AIDS and HIV, and medical issues involving the new clinic. We are looking forward to a great partnership with Hilda!!

We had done all this in the early and mid afternoon because I had asked Hanan to let us stop at Lake Victoria for awhile before we had to go to the airport (the airport is right across the highway from the lake).

So it took us about an hour to get to the lake, and we went into a private area called Aero Beach, so named because there are two old airplanes parked there (one of which had a big portrait of Barack Obama painted on the tail), there were big sculptured animals (elephant, water buffalo, giraffes, zebra) for children to climb on, several thatched kiosks and grills that probably sell food on the weekends, a restaurant that featured a nice bar, big dance floor and veranda, all shaped like an old cruise ship, and two live camels wandering around on the sandy beach and munching on the surrounding grass.

Del and Bob were just wowed by the lake, it is so beautiful. It was getting near sunset, and there were three large storks strutting around near the water, fluffing and arching their wings, and finally soaring off into the fading daylight.

We spent some time on a children's playground, which included a slide, swing, merry go round and see saw, all made of iron tubes and sheets by some clever metal worker (although the things were all in great need of paint!). Del and our driver Charles had a nice ride on the seesaw. Before we left, Bob climbed up a rope ladder to sit on the back of the big stone elephant. Yes, we did get a photo of that! And as he was climbing down, his pants started to slide down, because that was a pair he had purchased at the thrift shop and didn't quite fit.

What a tremendous way to end our Uganda experience. The perfect end to a fantastic trip! We drove across to the airport, checked in and had time to evaluate our time together. We gave the volunteer trip high marks, and will have lots of stories to tell when we return home.

Thanks everyone for your interest in what we are doing here in Uganda. It is so reassuring to know that you are all behind us!! If anyone out there is thinking of going with me next time, just let me know. Tentative dates are the last week of January through the first week of Feb, plus a couple of days. I would love to be able to show you this important and fulfilling work.

Love to All,
Renee

Volunteers' Blog: Nicole Rodgers (2009)

 

After reading Kay and Steve Martin's blog of their volunteering experience for the African Rural Schools Uganda in 2008, I am taken aback at first glance by the complete similarities of our own experiences one year later.

Before I get into a deeper description of our trip though, I wish to convey to Will as well as Kay and Steve that they have made a lasting impression on the children during their visit. So many times, we were taken aside by the children and or the staff, who would ask one of us if we had seen you lately, or how you were doing and wanted to know why you did not come back. Of course, as you are aware, it would have been too complicated to explain that we had never met and that we know of each other through Renee. Instead, I told them that I would pass their good wishes along to all of you. Though it took me by surprise at first that they would remember you all so well and so fondly after meeting you for a brief period a year ago, I quickly came to identify with the "celebrity status" that Kay refers to in her blog. Renee had gone to great length to prepare us for this trip but I just can't imagine how she could have been able to describe the impact that these "oh so sweet" children would have on us.

At one point, totally out of the blue, a young lady asked if I was Will's mom. All I knew of Will is that he was the nice, tall young man that volunteered the previous year. It did not take much insight on my part though to detect the twinkle in her eyes when she said: "Please tell him that Ruth said HELLO. Will is my friend!…" I gave her a big hug, a wink and reassured her that I would pass the message along to Will. Her shyish, genuine laugh is still ringing in my ears.

The sweet smell of Lake Victoria was the first indication that we had arrived at our destination, Entebbe , Uganda . We could not have known the proximity of the lake as it was pitch black when our plane came down for landing. But the distinct smell of a large body of water mixed with warm night air could not be mistaken. I could barely concentrate on what I needed to say and do to get out of this airport as I was completely taken by my strange surroundings. The small building, the white priest dressed in a white suit and hat, the women in cotton dresses, the black people eagerly waiting on the outskirts to offer help; for a moment it felt like I was on a set of an old English movie about Africa . For me, that became the intriguing quandary of my trip. Why is it that Uganda appears to have been frozen in the 50s?

My fellow traveler, Michael Glass, has done a fantastic job at recording our adventures in his daily emails to his family back in Pittsburgh . As I read about his description of our first visit to the school, every detail of that day just rolls like a film in my head. The buildings appear in front of us as soon as we turn right off a narrow, very bumpy road. The few children that were out and about when we arrived just froze in their tracks as we pulled up in front of one of the shabby buildings, which we later found out were the classrooms. They were as curious of us the "white women" climbing out of the car as I was of them. I think that my heart was beating a hundred miles an hour as I really wasn't sure how we would be accepted and how comfortable they would be with our presence in their school. So strange now to think that I even had that thought as they immediately, broke into the biggest, warmest most genuine smiles and came running towards us with open arms. They immediately circled Renee, touching her, holding her hands, smiling, generally so happy to see her. As much as right at that moment, I wanted so badly to grab each one of them in a big hug, I refrained myself and decided that it might a good idea to let them come to me instead. I walked away to sit on one of the benches that was set up for the big reception Hannan had prepared for us. I was holding a few of the books I had brought with me to give to the school for the children. A couple of the little ones came over, checking me out like to say "and who are you, what's your story???" Because of the language barrier, we really could not get much beyond "Hello…." I then decided to open up one of the picture dictionaries to see if they might be interested in looking at the pictures with me. In a matter of minutes, I was surrounded by a swarm of smiling children of all ages asking at the same time: "What is this, what is that, can you read this story, what is your name" all the while touching my hair, my cheeks, my arms, a few holding me by the waist. Well needless to say that it was love at first sight and that very moment will be imprinted in my brain for the rest of my life as the most moving, loving experience ever.

In the sea of endless special moments of this trip, the next one that comes to mind is the first time I met my little Joan, one of my sponsored children. It was on a Saturday afternoon. It was fairly quiet at school as only the boarding children are around on weekends. As I was walking by the girl's dorm, Joan grabbed me by the hand and said: "Come in and see our stomach"… I walked in a little concerned about what kind of "stomach" I was about to see. I entered the hut to find a half dozen of the older children, boys and girls, crouched in front of what looked like to be BIG brown sausages. Each child was holding a stick and proceeded to proudly point to the parts of the digestive system they had built with mud, ending their presentation with: "and this is where the garbage comes out"… Joan had never let go of my hand through the entire presentation; she was so proud to show off the project that they had worked so hard on. We cheered, high fived, laughing so hard that pretty soon everyone was coming in the little hut to get a lesson on the "digestive system". We had brain stormed during the week about the idea of sponsoring the children that were either orphans or from families that could not afford the tuition. I was ecstatic when Hannan confirmed that Joan needed a sponsor as I knew immediately that she would be "mine"….

As the days went by and we were becoming more familiar with our new surroundings, I could not help but wonder about the history of the economical and political situation that created the standard of living of the Uganda of today. I had done some research before our trip but so many questions came to mind now that we were immersed in the culture. We visited a small bookstore on one of our trips to Kampala , the capital of Uganda . After trying to explain to every clerk in the library that I was looking for a book on the history of Uganda till today, the consensus was a book by George W. Shepherd, Jr. titled "The Early Struggle for Freedom and Unity in Uganda" copyright 1955. Though it wasn't exactly what I had in mind, it certainly turned out to be a riveting story of a white man who took the position of the first white man employed by an African organization (The Federation of Uganda African Farmers in August of 1951). So much made sense to me after reading his heroic attempt to provide equity for the blacks in trading their natural resources with the whites. To quote from one of the founders of the Federation: "My people know very little about the principles of co-operation and the ways of doing business in the white man's world, but they are determined that they will market their coffee and their cotton themselves and not simply sell to the Indians and Europeans."

The book narrates a gripping story of the continuous struggle over the years of the natives of Uganda against what appeared to be a very subtle but deliberate system of exploitation and discrimination. The author describes Uganda of 1951 as follows: "The sleeping giant is awakening and beginning to throw off the chains which have bound him to the ignorance and misery of the past. These chains of colonialism, tribalism, white supremacy, disease, and poverty are being broken one by one, and the great question arises: Once this giant is free, what will he do with his freedom and what will be his attitude toward the Western democracies?"

As I understand so much better the plight of today's Uganda , through the experiences of the author in the early 50s, I am also fascinated by the similarities of his experiences with our own, as if time stood still between 1951 and 2009. I laughed at his description of his first car trip with a chauffeur: "Never had I traveled over such roads, and I was amazed at the confident manner in which the chauffeur picked his way through these roads without any road signs. As we went by little mud houses, the whole family whole run out to watch us…." And: "After several days of bumping about on the almost impassible roads, eating practically nothing but matoke, and trying to get a few winks of sleep amidst the noise of drumming, dancing, and clapping that went on all night, I was grateful when we headed back…" In our case the drumming was the all night blasting music which we never really figured out where it was coming from.
He then questions what we had observed so many times; the beautifully dressed men and women walking about. "I discovered that nearly all Europeans dress in a casual, comfortable style, but that the Africans and Indians will always dress as best they can. The reason for this is difficult to fathom, unless it stems from a desire to appear as important as possible."

My sentiment exactly as the author depicts his visit to a school. "They sang songs and spoke English verses in unison. How they swelled with pride at a little praise and encouragement from me. As they marched away, singing at the top of their voices, it seemed to me that I heard the voices of all the youth of Uganda raised in a mighty chorus which echoed from the surrounding hills and valleys, full of determination to rise above themselves out of their poverty and ignorance into a new world of hope and promise." In the next paragraph he narrates a conversation he has with a co-worker at the Federation. Again, it sure transcends the situation with the education system we found on our recent trip. "Then I heard the voice of Nsikalira telling me how they people longed for more schools for their children. They were willing to make any sacrifice to send their children to school. But the government was not listening to their pleas. So they had gone ahead themselves, built their own buildings, and employed teachers, determined that their children would not have to endure the blindness of ignorance they themselves had suffered. Yet what they could do themselves was pitiful in comparison to the need." "They did not have the toys, books, or other aids to amusement and learning which Western children enjoy. They played little games with sticks and stones and chased one another around. Their capacity for enjoying life did not appear to be any the less because of the lack of numerous playthings." We could be referring to the children we saw a few weeks ago…

It's disconcerting to me to recognize how very little has changed in Uganda in the last 50 some years when reading Mr. Shepherd's description of the plight of Uganda then which almost mirrors our own experience so many years later. The African Rural Schools Foundation is the vision of a man who like the characters in the Mr. Shepherd's era, wishes to change the future of Uganda one child at a time. I am so very proud to have been a small instrument in his immense dream.

I will be for ever thankful to Renee for being so open the day we sat by side in a meeting. I remember interrupting her in the middle of her explanation of how she became the sponsor of the school to raise my hand and very excitedly say: "Can I go with you next time?" I expected anything but the answer that she gave back in her sweet quiet voice: "Of course, I would love it".

There were many memorable moments on this trip but I could have never anticipated the strong bonds that we were going to share with our new Uganda friends as well as my fellow travelers. These experiences will never pass from my memory though we have returned to own pattern of life.

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Volunteers' Blog: Michael Glass (2009)

 

Volunteer Michael Glass wrote emails to send back to family and friends. Here they are:

 

(Day 1 in Uganda)

greetings all,

I hope everyone is well.

Well, we're here. We arrived at Entebbe airport around 10:30pm... stepped out of the plane and the smell of this fresh air was remarkable. there was a soft breeze coming off of Lake Victoria, very pleasant temperatures, everything was green... very welcoming.

Hanan was so happy to see us... it was too funny. I felt like a celebrity. He hired a driver to transport us the entire time we are here. other than driving on the wrong side of the road, there are no lights, it's pitch black, and this guy was flying... of course, seeing cars come at me from the wrong side of the road took some getting used to, but the drive to the hotel was scary, not because of the driving, but because of the country. it was like driving through rural Georgia or Alabama, circa 1950-1960... little shanty towns and falling down houses peppered the sides of the road... little campfires along the way with people cooking, eating, listening to music... little "juke joints" along the way, people shooting pool and drinking beer... culture shock.

Arrived at the hotel around midnight. There must have been 100 - 125 people all sitting outside in the back parking area of the hotel watching a soccer game on a 52" widescreen TV... another 50 - 100 sitting in the dining room of the hotel watching the same match... cheers, yelling... you would have thought it was 12:00 in the afternoon. hilarious.

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greetings all,

day 2 in Uganda.

Renee’s flight got delayed … so instead of arriving in the late morning, she got here around 6pm.

While we were waiting for her yesterday, after we left the internet cafe (and that is a misnomer, by the way) Nicole went back to her room to sleep, I walked around the neighborhood for a while. then I went back to my room, took a nap... after Renee arrived, we went to Hanan’s house for dinner. his family is very sweet. I gave eve the necklace that Carolyn sent for her. She was too happy... she danced! I gave the kids pretzels, which they had never seen, and they loved them. We ate rice (amazingly tasty) peanut sauce, matouke (steamed bananas), greens that tasted like spinach (way too salty) and cabbage salad. All-in-all, quite tasty and filling. Renee was tired, so we went back to our hotel around 8:30 - 9:00pm and everybody crashed.

I cannot even begin to describe to you what life is like here... rural, hard, literally off the land, and non-stop. It is hard to know when people sleep. The street our hotel is located on is non-stop. Thousands... thousands of people moving at all times of the day and night. As busy as the day is, life seems to get going after about 4pm. Taxis and busses are constant, stopping in front of the hotel at the rate of about 2 or 3 per minute... people jump off, people jump on as the taxis (minivans) barely stop, horns are blowing indicating that they are about to move, people scurrying and the boda-bodas (these are bicycles or motorbikes/motorcycles) are constantly jockeying for first place when the taxis stop. People get out, quickly pay their fares, then jump on the back of one of these boda-bodas and get transported to the rest of their destination. These boda-bodas are in front of the hotel, up and down the entire street, all day long. But from about 6pm through 2am, there may be as many as 30-50 of these things lined up in front of the hotel. They drive against the traffic, on the sidewalk, over the median... anywhere, anyway to get to a customer. The crazy thing is that at midnight there are customers... hundreds of them.

Life seems to start after 6pm, as it is about to get cool. there is a storefront selling something at every doorway... food (homemade bread, roasted corn, chicken on a stick...), bootleg videos/DVD’s, clothes, mattresses, furniture. And this is where the light comes from. There is a street light at the corner where there is also the only traffic light in this town, and that is the only public lighting. The storefronts (which is also people's homes) is the only other light. The daylight hours are short, from about 7:30am til 7:00pm. but there is commerce practically 24 hours/day. It is amazing.

Well, it's 10:55am now, and Hanan is picking us up at 11:00 and we're going to the new school campus. there is some sort of surprise for Renee at the old school, so we are not supposed to go there until Sunday. so after we visit the new school, we are going into Kampala.

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day 3 in Uganda... I think

 

It's difficult to keep up with the days... I don't wear a watch, there is no newspaper, no office to go to, and we are going pretty much non-stop, so...

 

We went to the ARSF’s new registration office yesterday. It is located in an upscale neighborhood (again, a misnomer) so that Hanan can attract more affluent parents who can actually afford the $125 per year tuition. The office is located inside and at the rear of an "indoor" marketplace... people selling all manner of fruits and vegetables in a somewhat covered, bricked-in edifice. we must be the most motley crew in Uganda... me and these two tall white women... we attract all manner of stares everywhere we go. As we were walking through the marketplace, saying hello to everyone... most smiled and said hello while others just looked suspicious... some began to whisper and point, and I could hear some whispering, "America..." then some woman pointing to me said loudly, "Obama!" shouts of "Obama" echoed throughout the place and people began cheering, applauding and laughing, so we all joined in and had an impromptu celebration. The little office Hanan has to register kids has a huge outdoor banner over the door with the name of the school and a reference to the Unitarian church in Pittsburgh, and there is a huge photo of Renee with a child. As soon as everyone realized that Renee was the person on the banner, more smiles were apparent as there was a celebrity amongst them. Soon, all were happy and were glad to have us with them and take photos of them. Much fun! The kids and parents who were at the registration office staged a little presentation for Renee and said how excited they were to have us there.

 

Afterward, we drove into Kampala city and visited the crafts market. Amazing! about 5 acres of people on the lawn with tents and some amazing artwork, crafts, food, and clothing. a lot of stuff was fairly typical of the kind of stuff you would find in an American flea market or at 10,000 villages in squirrel hill... low-end stuff that people can make with minimal supplies and skills, but also some amazing hand-crafted sculptures, intricately detailed carvings, and hand made jewelry. Some of this stuff was absolutely amazing. I bought a few things... tried to find something nice for the house... I looked at a carving that I thought would be nice for the house... 80,000 shillings. then the whispers of Barack Obama began again (that's happening a lot) so I told the woman that I was a personal friend of Barack Obama and I was taking this back to the U.S. and he would be very happy if I got a better price. Everyone laughed and didn't believe me, but I bought it for only 40,000 shillings... about $28. I have seen similar statues in Pittsburgh galleries for about $200. so I bought a few things... not too much.

 

We stayed at the market for most of the rest of the afternoon. We stayed at the market for most of the rest of the afternoon. Renee bought a lot of stuff to sell for the school, and then we headed back to our hotel. You cannot imagine the poor air quality here, in large part due to the dry, red earth. this is like Georgia red clay, but much more dry and loose. This stuff is in the air all the time, gets kicked up by the traffic and just gets into and onto everything. when I am not actually taking a photo, I keep my camera wrapped up in a cloth. When we got back to the hotel, I decided to wash before dinner, and you can't imagine the amount of red dirt that was on my face and neck. Loads of it. Nicole said when she got in the shower and saw all this red water in the tub, she got scared... wondered what was happening to her hair. On top of all that, there is no vehicle inspection or emission control, so some of these old vehicles are just spewing out diesel and fumes... makes breathing a little difficult.

 

We ate at the hotel and later went for a walk. We bought some fry bread from one of the street vendors... kind of like a heavy pita bread... the guy rolls out the dough and throws it onto the hot plate with a little oil... very tasty. We also bought some roasted corn on the cob... smelled so good, tasted so bad. These street vendors usurp every square inch of the sidewalk and there is barely enough room to walk. People are moving very fast. Of course, they know where they are going, and we're just sight seeing, but you have to keep moving or the crowd will just push you along. Anything you can imagine can be purchased from one of these vendors... from refrigerators and linoleum to dishes, candles, clothing, shoes and food. The amount of commerce is amazing. Non-stop.

 

Last night was particularly noisy and festive. I don't know if that is because it was Friday, the end of the week, but the amount of people on the street was especially thick and the music was loud and still going strong when I fell asleep, about midnight. fortunately, I am not a light sleeper and the noise isn't bothering me. this morning, Renee said she did not sleep well because of the noise. our rooms are side-by-side, so we wake each other in the morning for breakfast. After breakfast this morning, we hung around because it was pouring down rain and we couldn't get the car to the school grounds... might get stuck in the mud. We went to the bank to get some shillings, and then Hanan took Renee to the airport to pick up her [lost] luggage. It is 1pm right now and she is due back any minute now. The rain has stopped so we will probably go to the school.

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day 4 in Uganda

Well yesterday Renee went to pick up her luggage and Nicole and I stayed here. we expected her to return around 1-1:30. Nicole and I went to the dining room and drank tea. I had a proposal from Hanan to review and Nicole hung out with me. About 3pm, Nicole said she was worried about Renee... they had not yet returned, but Renee left her cell phone with me so I wasn't worried. about 4:00, Hanan called me and said he was detained at the airport. Renee forgot her passport so she had to sign papers for Hanan to go into the airport to retrieve her luggage. Customs opened her luggage and saw all this stuff that she did not include on her claim when the luggage was lost, so they tried to make Hanan pay hundreds of dollars for it. He explained that he didn't have any money, that Renee was just around the corner, but they wouldn't let him get her. They kept him there for hours trying to extort money from him. He kept telling them the clothes were for poor orphan children at school and that he had no money, so they finally took some of the ink pens that Renee packed for the school and let him go. They got back here around 5pm. It was too late to go to the school by then, so we had a meeting with Hanan to discuss the proposal he left with me.

After Hanan left, we had dinner and observed the football phenomenon again. The really funny thing is, there is a room full of about 30 soccer fans at 6pm on a Saturday, the game is on and the room is absolutely silent... nothing like the rowdy U.S. football fans. Nicole and Renee wanted to get on the internet... too crowded for me to wait, so I went for a walk, did a little shopping. This is the thickest I have seen the traffic yet. I get more surprised by this every day. It was about 7pm and the line of barely creeping, practically stand-still traffic could be seen for at least a mile, while the boda bodas weaved in and out with their passengers sitting side saddle on the back, bicycles flying just as fast. I hope I can get some video of this.

(Day 5)

greetings again from Uganda,

yesterday was remarkable. I wish there was another word to describe it, but remarkable is the best I can do right now.

After breakfast we went directly to the school. Other than what is on the website and the newsletter, I didn't have any preconceptions about it. I knew this is a poor school in a poor place... I was surprised by the stark contrast of the rugged, rural terrain and community compared with the pure beauty of this school sitting on top of this hill. Everything about the school is rough... shabbily constructed buildings... cement and brick... nothing cosmetic except the paint that was applied, who knows when. No windows, just open portals, some with shutters, some without... no linoleum or any kind of floor covering... either cement or dirt floors. tin roofs covering four walls... that's just about it. The dorms have triple bunk beds and foot lockers... a few things hanging on hooks on these cement or brick walls. this school epitomizes every conception you have of poor African children and schools.

But there is a wonderful breeze blowing across the top of this hill and it perfectly complements the attitude and demeanor of these most beautiful children. Children, in general, never move me like this. These kids were gorgeous... excited to see us, eager to talk and ask questions, bright faces and shy smiles in these adorable little orange and brown uniforms, some with fluent, brilliant English with distinctly British accents. I don't know any American children, or adults for that matter, who speak as well as some of these kids. When we arrived, I was touring the place with Hanan, and Nicole went to sit under a tent out of the sun. A few inquisitive kids came over to her and she took out a book. I looked back about five minutes later and couldn't see Nicole for the swarm of kids around her. They couldn't believe the beauty of this book... the pictures and colors. She was trying to describe the concept of snow to them. She loved it, they loved it. At some point she took out her camera and you never saw so many kids trying to get their picture taken. She would take the picture and this whole crowd of kids would run to her to see it, practically knocking her down, laughing and pointing at the picture and each other. They all were having a ball. I never heard Nicole laugh so genuinely... she was giddy and the kids loved it.

About noon, Hanan said it was time for the "charity walk." This was a march through this little village in order to showcase the kids and the school and to announce the distribution of the mosquito nets. Hanan hired a brass band to lead the march, all dressed in school tee shirts, and the kids marched... pranced, behind this band. And I mean we walked through the entire village... through affluent neighborhoods and some of the poorest you can imagine. Just like the pied piper, kids and parents both flocked to the music. Some child who couldn't have been more than 3 walked up to me and grabbed my hand and never let go. I was thinking, who is this child, where are his parents, where does he live??? David, who works with Hanan, smiled at me and said don't worry, he'll find his way home. This kid walked with me for about a mile and a half, all the way back to the school. I could not get him to let my hand go. Somebody else saw the concern on my face and said, don't worry, he belongs to the village, he'll be fine. I finally had to pull away from him because I had some work to do. About a half hour later, Nicole brought this same boy to me and said he was hungry. The school kids were eating lunch and he wanted to eat too. They can only feed you if you have your own bowl, so I gave him mine. He ran to the front of the line, pushing some of the big kids out of the way. They gave him food and as Nicole and I laughed, turned back around, the kid had disappeared. We had no idea where he was. We went back to work and about an hour later, while I was sitting waiting for part of the afternoon program, somebody taps me on my leg. I look down and it's this same boy, with the biggest grin on his face, handing me the bowl, freshly washed. I took the bowl and he ran happily away. He returned a few minutes later and was my sidekick for the rest of the day.

So the reason we couldn't go to the school before now is that Hanan had this whole program planned for us... a brass band, he rented tents for people to sit under, hired a disc jockey, had tribal drummers... after the march, we returned to the school and many folks from the community turned out, including a health dept official who thanked the American patrons for supporting the community, and some elected official, like a councilman, who also heaped praise upon us and then proceeded to deliver a long list of other community needs that he would like our help with, including purifying the water and helping with the garbage/sanitation problem. The school children had this whole performance planned, including songs and dance. I cannot begin to tell you how beautiful these kids are. Renee video taped their performance, so you just have to watch it. I really can't describe it, but these kids brought tears to my eyes. They danced and sang this song, "you can be anything you want to be." I’m getting emotional just writing about it. The whole program, after the march, lasted from 2pm until about 5:30. Approximately 500 people from the community, mostly who were there to get mosquito nets, sat patiently, quietly, respectfully through this whole program and were terribly appreciative that these patrons came all the way from the U.S. to visit with them, "and help us solve some of our problems." I kept saying to Nicole, who do they think we are?

The program ended with a traditional African dance and we observed one of their customs. As the children perform, people come from the audience, walk right up to the performers and put coins in their hands. The kids keep right on singing and dancing as if nothing happened, and then there seems to be some competition/pressure on other adults/parents to give other kids coins. People kept walking up and giving the kids coins. Probably some of the adults were giving coins to their own children, but in other cases I know that the adult didn't have any kids in the school. Very unique and touching ceremony.

Nicole and I did a little skit about mosquitoes attacking and showed everyone how to use the nets. Then we distributed the nets. You would have thought we were giving away gold. Initially we had talked about buying mosquito nets for all the kids in the school and some for the community. We talked about 500 nets, then 1.000. After other people heard what we were doing, they made contributions and we figured we could buy 1200, then 1400... yesterday we distributed 2,000 mosquito nets and you never saw happier people. We brought a lot of goodwill for the school yesterday, and the community was very appreciative.

We left and headed back to the hotel about 6:45, before it got dark. we all were pretty exhausted from the day, the walk, and the sun. This sun is blazing from about 12 noon until about 4:30-5:00. No matter how cool, overcast, or rainy the morning is, the sun is blazing in the afternoon. The redemption is the always cool evenings. We got back to the hotel, had a light dinner, sat on the balcony of an empty room and watched a concert behind the hotel. Everyone was tired so we crashed pretty early. A very productive, wonderful, amazing day.

Tomorrow is Hanan’s birthday, so after we leave the school, we are having dinner at his house. I have a Steelers shirt for him. JUST CALL US SIXBURGH!!!! I woke up this morning and the first thing I heard on CNN is, the Steelers win a record 6th Super bowl. I saw the clips of Harrison’s interception and return as well as Holmes' touchdown catch. Sounds like it was an exciting game.

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day 6 (I think) in Uganda

The days are just running together. I have no watch, no internet (usually) no office to go to, and we're just so busy... can't keep track of time.

Don't have a lot of time to write today... going to Kampala city to try to get some things for the school.

Yesterday was another amazing day. Went to the school in the a.m... went to all the classes and spent some time with t he kids... I played around in the math class... asked the kids some addition and subtraction questions... amazed at how fast they computed in their heads, and how eager they were. There is nothing like these bright faces... sheer joy in their smiles... they are so happy to be in this school.

We delivered all the kids clothes yesterday. The staff was so happy... everyone was tickled. We brought a lot of clothes! then I went around to each classroom and began handing out lollipops. You NEVER saw such excitement! The children sat patiently in their seats while I went around and said hi to each one and gave them 2 lollipops. It was too much fun. They love me!! I brought pay day candy bars for all the staff and Hanan passed them out. They were just like the kids... a treat from the U.S.!

We went for a walk through the village and Renee took us to a "bakery." we walked in and Nicole and I just started laughing. I said the Pennsylvania health dept would have a field day in here... citations left and right. They would have been shut down years ago. Trays and trays of dough sitting on the ground waiting for the bread to rise... people walking all around them... in the bin where the cooked bread was waiting to be bagged, a baby was sleeping. I was dying! The owner was so pleased to see us. He directed someone to give us a tour. Considering the environment, this was as well run an organization as you could imagine... efficient, well-defined job responsibilities... just like an assembly line. And they were turning out bread and "doughnuts" faster than you would believe. We bought a bunch of bags of the doughnuts to take back to the school for the staff. They were delicious! I kept a bag to have with my tea... my TEA... in the morning. I haven't had a cup of coffee since the airport in Amsterdam! only had slight headache the first two nights. but I’ve been loading up on the African tea in the a.m.

Got back to the school, spent some time with the kids, and then headed back to the hotel. Cleaned up, then went to Hanan’s house for dinner. He moved into a new house on Monday. He was so excited because the new home is twice the size of his old house. Couldn't wait to show us his new modern home, with indoor plumbing... 2 rooms, a living room and a bedroom with a bathroom. the bathroom actually had a ceramic sink, a "shower" and a "toilet..." a hole in the ground with a toilet seat on top of it, but the toilet drain actually ran away from the house. This is a middle class home.

Yesterday was Hanan’s birthday, so we gave him his presents. He was too excited with his Steelers shirt and birthday cake. Renee also gave gifts to eve and the kids. I presented the kids with books. They were so excited and pleased. Hanan’s niece (whose name I can't remember right now, is 9 years old) put on the new dress that Renee gave her, sat down on the floor and began reading Shades Of Black. She was fascinated. She went to Renee and asked her a couple of the words she did not understand. She did not put the book down the entire time we were there. She was fascinated with the photos of the children. Probably the first time she ever explored the notion of "shades of black."

We had a long conversation about the school, what Hanan wanted to see happen. I explained strategic management to him and constructing a strategic plan, so I will help him with that. We looked at long and short term goals, so today we are going to Kampala city to meet with someone in the construction business to talk about putting new classroom buildings on the grounds and to see if there are logistic problems with trying to get pre-fab buildings.

All in all, it was a great day. Got back to the hotel and something spooked Nicole as we were walking up the stairs. She said, something moved under that chair. I said something is always moving around here. She said, no, there is something alive moving under that chair. So I shined my flashlight under the chair and this little head with shiny eyes poked out at us. Nicole screeched and jumped back. It was a live chicken in a plastic bag. Someone had gone into the bar to have a drink, and apparently left tomorrow's dinner outside in the bag, tied to the leg of the chair. I said, usually when I see chicken in a bag, it's a fryer and the head and feathers have already been removed, but oh well... we were laughing this morning about the chicken in the bag.

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day 7 (I think) in Uganda

 

I consider myself a pretty good driver, but I would never drive in Uganda. I have driven in Tokyo, Japan, Los Angeles, Tijuana, and New York City... pieces of cake. But in Uganda, the traffic light is more like a suggestion... I think it must mean, slow down if you want to, or not, depends on how you feel. and these boda bodas have absolutely no restrictions. They drive against the traffic... come right at your car and then swerve at the last second, and you never know which way they are going to turn. Apparently, turn signals are illegal because no one uses them. All that, and we're driving on the wrong side of the road. It is an experience not for the faint of heart.

 

We went into Kampala city yesterday. The goal was to visit the cultural center to try to identify some artist who might be willing to come to the school and teach some art/craft to the students. Right now, Renee is buying lots of crafts which we then sell on the web site in order to get financial support for the school. My thought was that if the children made the crafts, or at least some of them, we could advertise authentic African artwork by the children with all proceeds directly supporting their education. Also, at Hanan’s house Monday evening, we talked about a 5-year plan and what was most needed at the school. We decided that if we could replace the classroom buildings with real classrooms, we could attract more affluent families who could actually pay the tuition. So we made an appointment with someone who Hanan knew who is in the construction business.

 

The cultural center was the first stop. I have never seen such amazing artwork... beautiful handmade clothing... sculptures, jewelry, paintings, authentic tribal masks. it got to be overload for the senses. Just way too much stuff to take in all at once. We identified a couple of artists, but were unable to speak with them... they were in some meeting, so we have to go back, probably on Friday.

 

Kampala city is a much more modern place than anything we have seen so far, but it also is a sad place. We saw a huge... HUGE, mosque. I have never seen anything quite like it and numerous office buildings and stores, department-like stores, that were obviously built by the British, I don't know how many years ago. but when Idi Amin started killing the British and Indian merchants and they all fled, there was no one with the expertise to start or re-start businesses that were in the business of maintaining the infrastructure. So many of these old buildings, like the hotel we are staying in, were obviously grand buildings one hundred years ago. But now, they are just falling apart.

 

Kampala is also a paradox of this beautiful country. I suppose after the reign of "big daddy," many of the Indian merchants returned and reclaimed or rebuilt their businesses. They absolutely dominate the major commercial concerns "down town." There are still remnants of the old colonial tensions between the Indians and the Ugandans. Probably not nearly as bad as 50 years ago, but remnants. The merchants are at best unconcerned when black people walk into their stores, but they immediately come to assist Nicole and Renee when they enter. I get some respect, I suppose, because they assume I am a foreigner. (among the rural people, children and adults alike, I am called a "mzungu," a white person. I told Renee and Nicole that it is guilt by association.) All the police officers are natives, and it is not unusual to see them walking the streets in groups, or riding in the back of pick-ups, with shotguns and automatic weapons. Our hotel has an armed guard at the front and back entrances starting around 4pm through the morning. But Kampala is a very unusual city... a strange dichotomy of poor and affluent, old and new, indigenous and foreign. I saw some very high end, very western men's clothing stores in a distinctly western part of down town. Very unusual.

We also met with the construction guy. Had a long conversation, but will probably not amount to much. He was not too concerned about helping the school, but was more focused on trying to "sell" us his services. I told him we would be glad to build a new $100,000 school building if he was willing to donate $90,000 of it. We turned the tables and asked him how much he was willing to donate. Renee said, how unusual, the "rich" Americans come to the local guy and ask for a donation. We'll see where that goes.

 

Got to run... time to get to the school.

 

Last night, around midnight, I heard a cow mooing... looked out my window and there's a cow just walking up and down the middle of the street... cars, buses, boda bodas swerving around it... people walking, paying it no attention whatever... I watched this for about 15 minutes... no one cared... hilarious.

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day 8 (I think) in Uganda

 

I’m so confused about the time now, I’m just going to call this day 8 and try to keep the days straight from now on.

 

We had a very productive day yesterday. Went to the school first thing in the a.m. Kids were busy in class... we could hear them reciting their lessons as we drove up... others were scurrying about taking care of other things. The vibrancy of the school is infectious. it is so cute to see the kids peering out of the doors and windows when we come up. Most of them are still very shy and won't initiate any contact, but as soon as I wave or say hello, dozens of faces break out in the biggest grins and little hands are frantically waving. They are really excited to see us come. And of course the staff loves to see us arrive. They get a chance to show off and I’m sure they think we are bringing them buckets of money.

 

We informally greeted some of the parents who were arriving to register their children. Registration lasts all week because some of the poorer parents can't get here on a given day. I think the parents believe that since Americans are involved, it must be a good school, so the staff is happy to point us out. We went into some of the classrooms and interacted with the students, and then we had a key staff meeting to discuss some of the suggestions from our previous meetings. We agreed to rebuild the 5 classrooms. Or perhaps I should say, I agreed to make sure that all you reading this email would pay to rebuild the classrooms. These buildings are literally falling down. I think they lean 2 degrees more each day. So we figured out a preliminary budget... about $15,000 to build basic units using a lot of staff labor, and firing our own bricks. we also agreed to pay for a full time nurse and to put in a nurses office next year...

 

We wanted to see how the dorms looked now that many of the children have arrived, so went to the girls dorm and there was a young girl in bed. Nicole said, what's wrong honey, don't you feel well. she said, I have malaria. I guess we have always known of the resiliency of children, but the absolute determination and sheer resolve of these kids is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. There are so many incidents that occur everyday that make you realize how fortunate we are... how absolutely blessed, simply because we were born on a certain part of the planet. And these children are absolutely delighted with their lives. What we consider as amazing intestinal fortitude is simply everyday life for the young people. The students at this school are so much better off than other children in this country. As we were coming to school yesterday morning, and looking at some other children walking to their schools, we saw other children, 10 - 13 years old, working in their parents' corner market, or walking the street selling bananas, oranges, or almost anything else. These are kids who either already finished school (6th grade) or who will never go to school. It is sad.

 

It was laundry day at school... that's once per week... and bath day. So while Nicole, Renee and I sat in on the teacher's strategy meeting, I looked out the door and on the hillside, there are these children, probably 10 - 12 years old, bathing the younger children. It was precious and hilarious. Dark little naked butts running around in the grass, boys and girls, while some others got their baths... no inhibitions, no fears, just sheer joy and laughter... not an adult in sight. These children know that when they reach a certain age, they have responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is taking care of the younger children. No one complaining, no one causing anyone any problems, just everyone doing what he needs to do. It was so cute watching the little ones brush their teeth with the toothbrushes and toothpaste we brought here. They were having a ball.

 

I spent some additional time with Hanan talking about leadership and management. With Renee’s help, he has done remarkable things with this school. This is a man who started a school with one table and one chair under a tree. He has great vision and warmth and is a pleasure to be around. Renee has been a tremendous help to him and it is very rewarding to be able to contribute a little to this project.

 

At lunchtime, I went to where the food was being served, and I passed out some Laffy Taffy. Adults came running just like the children. It is amazing how excited and appreciative they are for these little treats. After each child got his food, I gave him two pieces of candy. They love me!! I’m like Santa Claus and Richard K. Mellon all in one. The kids' lunch is mush, beans, and broth, every day. They pour some corn meal into a huge pot of boiling water and stir until it thickens. They separate the beans from the broth, serve a huge portion of mush first, then pour some broth over it, and then drop in a few beans. And I do mean a few. about as much as you would get on two tablespoons. I will not even begin to describe the kitchen. You have to see the photos.

 

I had a good time with the kids. They are amazing. All in all, it was a good day. About 5pm we headed back to the hotel. On the way back, a whole herd of cows was casually strolling through the road. Our driver would drive right up to the cows and blow his horn. They were completely unconcerned. He's screaming out the window for the cows to move and they are completely ignoring him. People are walking all around, dozens and dozens of people. I started thinking of the cow in the street last night and thinking who owns these cows? Why are they just meandering around in the middle of the day. The driver actually had to bump a couple of them. Once they got bumped they started moving and their demeanor is just like the people and the taxis and the boda bodas. They were in the road first and they had a right to be there. You have to laugh. And the driver didn't help, screaming and flailing his arms out the window of the little Toyota. I’m thinking, one of these cows could turn over this little Tercel with all of us in it. They're all bigger than this little car. Some of the bulls have horns that must span 6 feet.

 

Our plan is to go back to the school tomorrow. I’m going to try to show the teachers and students how to get on the internet with their little x-o computers. Friday we plan to buy school books and go back to the cultural center to try to make the contact with the artist. Saturday is a trip to the Nile River, if the rain doesn't stop us. The rain dictates a lot of what goes on around here. It doesn't rain much this time of the year, but it rains everyday. Short cloudbursts... sometimes terrible downpours that last 10-15 minutes. Then the clouds blow away, the sun comes back and 30 minutes later, the street is dry. That is, the paved street. I think there are four of them. The main road from Kampala is paved. That is the road our hotel is on. The street parallel to this one is paved. And the two cross streets that lead north and south are paved. That's it. The other roads are dirt roads. And because of the erosion from the rain, absolutely no drainage system, and no rain blocks on any of the hills, when these rains come they dig terrible trenches in the dirt roads. There are some roads that are completely impassable when a big storm hits. The road to the school has so many gullies in it, that the driver has to actually straddle some of the gullies and crevices to get up/down the road. If two wheels fell into one of these deep ditches, the car would literally be on its side. It would have to be pulled out, but these drivers negotiate these roads like pros. and that's the key. You don't just drive in Uganda. You negotiate the roads with the pedestrians, the boda bodas and the wildlife. Pedestrians, walk at your own risk.

 

I love this place.

 

I may not be able to write tomorrow morning because we are leaving for Kampala city before the internet cafe opens. The sign on the door says it opens at 9am. They might get here at 9:20, 9:45... no rush. There is absolutely no concept of time or hours in this culture. I have not yet seen anyone (locals) with a wrist watch... no clocks in any store, the hotel, nowhere.

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day 9 in Uganda

I won't have time to write tomorrow morning, but we returned to the hotel early, so here is today's events:

It must have rained during the night... everything is wet. As soon as I wake, I go out on my balcony and observe the street scene. The streets are eerily quiet after the night rain. I guess people take cover and there is decidedly less vehicle traffic. Around 7am everyone begins to stir. Since school has started now (this is the beginning of the school year... school goes from Feb. through Nov with a short break in May) we see lots of children in their smart uniforms walking to school in small groups. I suppose all schools require uniforms. People are beginning to move about quickly and the boda bodas are lining up. No cows.

We went to school this morning with the plan to get teachers indoctrinated on the use of computers and make them aware of the availability and utility of the internet, for themselves as well as the children. We discovered that the school does not turn the electricity on during the day because the fee is higher than in the evening. The habit has been to turn the electricity on so the computers can charge. Renee donated her personal laptop last year to act as a server, and Hanan brought his laptop in (which Renee previously gave him) so that everyone could get lessons. We discovered that Renee’s laptop, the server, does not hold a charge for more than about 10 minutes. Unfortunately, it also takes about 10 minutes to boot up. It's about 5 years old and probably shot. Hanan’s battery pack is absolutely shot. We cannot even turn it on unless it is hooked up to the current. In other words, the morning plan was aborted.

I passed out candy canes at lunch (they still love me!) and after lunch Nicole gave English (with a French Canadian accent) lessons to a class. The kids loved it, and she did an excellent job showing the teacher how to be creative with little things. I went to several classrooms and talked about life in the U.S. The concept of snow fascinated some of them who were completely unfamiliar with it, and we had a ball. There are four or five of these kids I could bring home right now. Wait until you meet Sylvia. We have her on videotape. I had a great time with the kids without the computers, and then I spent the afternoon talking with teachers and staff. I saw the cook walking around later, and I asked Hanan when he left school. Hanan said, he doesn't. He takes a nap in the late afternoon/early evening, then gets up and is the night watchman. These people are crazy dedicated. Like I said the other day, wait until you see his kitchen.

 

So we had another great day at school. Nicole and Renee walked back to the hotel... had their own little adventure walking through the village. I waited for the car because I had to carry some bags back to the hotel. On the way back, we stopped at the "bank..." an ATM machine inside something like a big phone booth, with a security guard carrying a submachine gun sitting out front. I felt so secure.

We had a treat for dinner tonight... French fries!!! or, at least a reasonable facsimile of French fries, called "chips." They were a welcome relief from the matouke, rice, greens... when I get home, I am going to devour a pizza. I’m just going to put my whole face in it and chew it up.

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day 10 in Uganda

So we went shopping today. First to the "stationery" district. New York has its garment district. Pittsburgh has its strip district. Kampala city has its stationery district. You never saw so many stores selling paper, paper products, paper by-products... one after the other for about three city blocks, on both sides of the street. I said how do you know which store to go into? Our driver (we have a new driver, Evelyn, pronounced EE va leen) asked what we wanted to buy. We told her and she said come with me. We needed exercise books (notebooks) paper, chalk, teachers manuals, some other school supplies. She said come with me... takes us to this place, we pick out everything we need, it comes to 458,000 shillings. Evelyn says, very emphatically, no, tells me to be quiet, then proceeds to argue with the store clerk in Luganda (their native tongue)... the store manager comes over, they get a calculator, refigure everything, then begin to politely argue again. Then Evelyn demands that they get another calculator, gives it to me and tells me to re-check their figures. I do what I’m told, they argue some more... we pay 338,000 shillings. I love this place. Practically everything is negotiable.

I had to buy another camera... the one I brought has a battery pack, not batteries, and the charger I bought here, won't work... so Evelyn says she knows where I can get the best deal... drives around to our first strip mall... yes, a strip mall. a shop-rite grocery store, an ophthalmologist, a dentist, a pharmacy, and Uganda’s own version of Wal-Mart. Evelyn says the price is best here, but non-negotiable. There is no way you would have known you were not in a Wal-Mart or Kmart... white people walking around shopping... hilarious.

Then we drive to Uganda’s version of Barnes and Noble... much smaller and no coffee bar, and the obligatory armed guard posted outside. We bought school books, teachers' manuals... I picked up a cute little Ugandan story book for Aaron and David.

Then we drive to the arts and crafts center. We turn down the wrong street so Evelyn pulls into an industrial place near the railroad tracks to turn around. Renee says, is that a vulture? Yes, as a matter of fact it is... so we jump out to try to take a photo. We look across the railroad tracks and there are about 200 vultures, just chillin. I got close to the first one we saw to try to get a close-up picture... snapped the photo and he turned his head to look at me. I’m pretty sure I saw him lick his lips, so we get back to the car. They have vultures, hawks, and storks like we have pigeons. And they aren't afraid of people. A lot of vultures hang out behind our hotel. I’m not sure what that means. So we get to the arts and crafts center to make contact again with artists for the school. That didn't go so well. They are going to have to continue that effort after we leave, but I think it's possible. We did some shopping. I could have spent a lot of money here, so I’m kind of glad I didn't have it to spend, but I got a few things. There was an ebony carving, a tribal man's head, that I wanted... 80,000 shillings. I got it for 40,000. I love this place.

It was a long day of shopping, running around, maniac traffic, which I think I figured out. You just get the nose of your car in the intersection, never look around, never acknowledge the other drivers, and it's up to them to avoid hitting you. Remarkable system. We shot some video footage of this because you wouldn't believe it otherwise. We headed back to the school to drop off the supplies. It's rush hour now, so Evelyn "cut the jam..." took a short-cut. Every time these kids see us now, they just get crazy excited. Nicole played ring-around-the-Rosie, in French, with some kids. they are loving her. Then we headed back to the hotel.
I am writing this tonight because we are leaving for Jinja and the Nile River around 8:30 and the internet café doesn’t open until 9:30… or so.
I’ll be home next week!!! yaaaaa!!!

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day 11 in Uganda

 

greetings all,

 

A trip to the Nile River actually. So, denial is not just a river in Egypt. it is also a river that actually begins in Uganda. And that's where we went yesterday, to the mouth of the Nile river.

 

And, second, last week it was chicken in a bag. yesterday, it was chicken on a stick.

 

So we boarded the matatu (a Toyota minivan that seats 14... and which would be illegal to drive in any state in the union... this is a typical taxi cab) with the three of us; David, who helps Hanan run the school; Hanan; his wife, eve; his sister, carol; his niece, lateefa; and Hanan’s three children, haneff, Renee Waun (what a coincidence) and the baby whose name I can't remember right now.

 

The trip to the Nile took about 90 minutes. Again, the sites along the way were tremendous. There are no general taxes in Uganda. No sales tax, no property tax... don't ask how they run the government. I haven't gotten a straight answer to that question yet. One means of revenue is the sale of land... very expensive. So if people can save enough money to buy a piece of property, they then build a home out of whatever is on the land. I will show you a photograph of a home built out of sticks and mud... literally. So the great ethical dilemma here as we are traveling is what photos to take that are of the general countryside and depicts the culture of the people, and what would constitute an invasion of privacy or would just be rude. I can certainly tell you, though, that I have never seen the type of poverty anywhere else I have been as I have seen here. And one man told me that I haven't seen the worst of it.

 

What is very noticeable is that everyplace we have been is either farm land or extremely highly populated villages and cities. There just isn't land to be had for new generations to purchase. The farm land... the plantations, have been owned mostly by the same families or conglomerates since forever... mostly sugar cane, tea, and banana trees, so those properties are not going to change hands. Riding through parts of the country is very similar to riding through middle Pennsylvania or eastern Ohio where there are acres and acres of soy beans and corn, except here it is tea and sugar cane. And of course the sugar cane looks very much like corn, so there was this eerie familiarity that was completely out of context. There are some corn plantations as well, but not as many in this part of Uganda. These are their staple products, but there is also a lot of pineapple (although I don't know where it grows), cabbage and jack fruit. Jack fruit is the biggest, ugliest thing you've ever seen, kind of like a fat porcupine with short little nubby quills, about the size of a really big watermelon, but a little less green, almost like a lime. There are about twenty gazillion seeds in it which they cut away and you eat the empty seed pods inside. tastes something like a dry cantaloupe/banana, not too sweet, and pretty tasty. It's a lot of work for a little bit of fruit, but they grow wild, so...

 

On the trip to the Nile, we stopped at a rest stop. for all of you who have driven the Pennsylvania turn-pike, a "service plaza," but without the bathrooms, buildings, service station or requisite cement. As soon as we pulled off on the side of the road, about twenty vendors rushed... and I do mean rushed the matatu, grabbed the sliding windows, forced them open, and began to shove all manner of food through the windows. All of them are yelling for us to buy their products, each trying to out-maneuver the other. They did everything except rip open the doors and get inside. Mind you, this vehicle is still moving, probably at 10 - 15 miles per hour. So these men and women are literally running beside this minivan trying to make a sale. I don't know how 4 or 5 of them didn't loose some toes. So we're staring at, and trying to avoid getting force fed, some oranges, bananas, roasted bananas, pineapple, Fanta orange soda (apparently, a local favorite... Pepsi products are huge here) and my personal favorite... chicken on a stick. I mean, a whole or half chicken, rotisseried or roasted to seeming perfection, with a stick through his butt and coming out his neck. But they're not cooked like we cook them. These chickens are "stretched." The wings are pulled open and straight down so that the tip of the wing is down past the thigh and the legs are pulled down even further. The chickens are headless, but they appear to be in terrible pain. There are two big concerns for me here. One, these things smelled delicious. The aroma was absolutely intoxicating, the closest thing I have smelled to home cooking since I’ve been here. Two, refrigeration is not a big concern here. In our travels, we have seen dressed chickens, goats, and cows just casually hanging in the shops of these street vendors. They usually just hang them in the windows, I suppose for the presentation effect, and the temperature is not exactly suited for preservation of gutted and dressed meats. I suppose the fire would kill any bacteria, but I’m also pretty sure my personal constitution would react adversely to the meat. So, I politely declined the chicken, lamb, and beef on the sticks, but I was tempted. I can't tell you how good they smelled. As a sales person, though, I give much credit to the tenacity of these vendors. If there is a sale to be made, they'll make it. And this "take-out" routine continues with every matatu, tour bus or boda boda that pulls into the service plaza. There are probably 50 or more of these vendors, all identified by their blue aprons, waiting to serve every vehicle that pulls in. We bought roasted bananas... they taste just like you would imagine a roasted banana would taste. I’d rather have a fresh one.

 

We arrived at the Nile... the source of the Nile river, and spiritually, it is everything you would imagine. The absolute thought that this majestic river has stood the test of time and we were here in the presence of living history has an amazing and humbling impact. The matatu parked on a hill overlooking the river and I just stood for a few moments, considering the history and who might have stood on this very spot 4 or 5,000 years before. There are rocks and a small waterfall, so as soon as the river comes out of the ground, it turns a corner and heads down this fall, so there is this wonderful sounding of the fast rushing water. It is a class 4 white water rapid, and since I have some experience with class 4 rapids, I decided to give it a try. but the whole drowning in Uganda thing was a deterrent, so I was content to take off my shoes and socks and stand in three inches of water along the shore. I fully intend to add this to my resume: I’ve had lunch with Henry Kissinger, Jonas Salk, and I have stood in the Nile river. How many other people can say that?

 

After the river turns the corner and comes down the falls, it gets about 200 - 300 feet wide right away. We took a tour boat out to the other side to see the beginning of the falls... pretty amazing. We ate lunch there, at this little Indian-owned hut that was suspect at best. But it was late in the afternoon by then and the plan was to eat there. We ate in this very cute open air, thatch hut kind of restaurant/bar. I got this menu that had seen better days, ordered fish and chips. yes... fish. I figured, why not? as the Budweiser people used to say, you only go around once in life... so we ordered chips and guacamole. I don't eat green mushy foods, but when they brought this, it was red and yellow and looked great, so I had to try it. Mexicans don't make guacamole like this. Mexicans could learn how to make guacamole from these folks. Delicious. I didn't have high hopes for this fish though (14,000 shillings... about $6) so I figured I couldn't be disappointed. what I got was the most attractively presented fish... a whole tilapia, cooked on an open grill with chips (French fries) and a small salad of tasty, sweet, bright red tomatoes, cucumbers and onions. I’m thinking, if I was at the fish market in Pittsburgh, this would cost $50. and it was delicious. I was at the Nile river and in heaven. I can't describe this fish to you... crispy outside, delicate, sweet, moist and tender inside. if I didn't have the whole marine macho thing going on, I probably would have cried. The best fish I have ever eaten. we fed 12 people for about $100. I love this place.

 

We had a great time. I felt a little guilty... like I was on vacation. I stood in the Nile river. We got some great photographs. I took a picture of my fish before I ate it.

We're going to trinity campus today. That's the piece of land Hanan bought so we can build a secondary/vocational school.

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day 12 in Uganda

We slept in a little yesterday morning. The plan for Sunday was to go check out the land for the new Trinity Campus. It rained a little Saturday night and was raining Sunday morning, so we didn't know how accessible the roads would be. We couldn't reach Hanan by phone and didn't know what time to expect the driver, so we decided to not waste the time and thought we could get some exercise by walking to the school. It's only about 2 miles away. Of course, one of those miles is entirely uphill, but we needed the exercise after sitting most of the day Saturday.

These kinds of walks through these little villages are always funny, because everyone absolutely stares at Renee and Nicole. The looks are of wonderment, inquisitiveness, amazement... and then they look at me as if I wondering why I am with them. You can hear whispers and sometimes downright shouts of "mzungu..." white person. What is hilarious is how many times that is directed at me. but mzungu is not a curse word. I think it is more descriptive because it is unusual in this part of Uganda. What is so delightful, though, is as soon as Renee or Nicole acknowledge people, they break out in the biggest grins and are so happy to engage and be engaged. People here really are fabulous. There is no fear, no pretense, no manipulations, no hidden agendas. Everyone is just working hard from sun up to sun down. And I do mean working hard. There is no such thing as a day off or a vacation. The woman who manages our hotel is on duty every morning when we come down for breakfast, about 8:30. Sometimes she actually serves breakfast and then clears the table afterward. When we come in at 9 or 10 at night, she is still on duty. This has been every day, and the other workers keep similar schedules. The woman who cleans our rooms is waiting on tables in the evenings. It's no wonder they conduct so much street business and party so hard after the sun goes down. What else is there to do? These street vendors open shop around 9 or 10am and are still there at 1 or 2am. And I love talking with them. They are eager to talk with you and equally eager to make a deal. Fun times.

On the walk to the school I took a photo of a boda boda, some people, and some cows all crossing the road together. People are staring at me, I’m sure wondering why I am taking photos of cows. After all, there is nothing unusual about people on motorcycles and cows crossing the road. When we arrive at the school, as soon as the kids see us, cheers go up all over the campus. Little smiling, dirty faces with bald heads come running toward us. You'd have thought we had chicken on a stick. The thing that struck me most about this scene is that this is Sunday morning and there are about 200 kids playing soccer, skipping rope (they don't jump rope, they skip rope) laughing, playing... having loads of fun. and I’m thinking, I haven't been on any school property anywhere in the United States at any time, and have seen these many kids having this much fun. Not even at recess. And this soccer ball can just barely fit the description of a ball. It's more of just a ba... not a whole ball. And the skipping rope they use is a bunch of grass twigs tied together. If anyone knows what centipede grass is, that's the kind of grass that grows wild on this hillside, and that's how they make their skipping ropes. Their shoes barely fit the definition of shoes, this red dirt is flying around everywhere, and these kids are having the time of their lives. They're killin' me.

 

We decided to use the day to take photos of the children who need sponsors. The children don't know that we are planning to sponsor them, and we didn't want to cause jealousy among the others, so we told them that we were taking class photos and then we would choose some individual students to photograph. we had a ball lining kids up and of course they are always eager to have their pictures taken. Instead of saying "cheese," to get them to smile, we tell to say "Obama!" they love it. Smiles all around.

When everyone at home sees these pictures, they are going to want to eat these kids up. "cute" doesn't come close to describing them. I wish I could email these pictures now, but when we do send these to everyone, get your Kleenex ready.

We then took a walk through a nearby village. When we took our walk last week to announce the mosquito nets, Nicole met this little girl who wanted to come to the school. She was practically in tears because her mother can't afford to send her, and she saw all these kids having so much fun. Nicole has been crying about it ever since, so last week we asked Hanan to find this little girl for Nicole so she can sponsor her and her brother to come to the school. So we walked to their house. No one was home, so we will return tomorrow or Tuesday to try to get them into the school. Nicole is so happy. these kids will do that to you... make you smile, make you cry. and for those who asked, no, I have not seen again the little boy that grabbed my hand and walked with me during our little parade. But I’m keeping a look out for him.

We decided to head back to the hotel since we were practically at the bottom of the hill, but Nicole and Renee left their bags at school. I offered to walk back up the hill and get them, told them to just continue on toward the hotel and I would catch up with them. Someone had just arrived at the school to drop off her child, so... I had my first boda boda ride. I thought there is no sense in my walking all the way down this hill when there was transportation available, so I jumped onto the back of this motorcycle (that had seen better days... years ago) and off we went. it was sort of like sitting behind Evel Knievel going downhill through the grand canyon. Oh my, what a ride. I’m glad I did it... pretty sure I won't do it again.

It was another great day in the motherland. we will attempt the trip to Trinity Campus tomorrow. Tuesday, we will take care of unfinished business. Nicole and I will say our goodbyes Wednesday morning... not looking forward to that... and Wednesday evening, we'll be on our way back to the other motherland.

beera bulungi (have a nice day, in Luganda)

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day 13 in Uganda

We went to the Trinity Campus yesterday. I told Hanan that we have a saying in America when there is a bad situation, we say it's "like 5 miles of bad road." well, the trip to the property was actually about 6 miles of horrendous road. This blasted red dirt is everywhere. So we've traveled about 5 miles up this road which, fortunately, was navigable because there has not been a heavy rain lately. We get about a half-mile away from the property and we get flagged down by a worker who tells us the road is out due to construction and we cannot drive through. These 3 guys are digging a ditch to install some drainage pipe under the road, so about half the width of the road is dug out, about 4 feet deep. I get Renee’s video camera to get some shots of this scene. I say, but the road is still passable... there is still enough room for the matatu to get by. They say that the ground is too soft and it might get stuck. ridiculous. so, after some locally-flavored negotiations by Hanan, we pay the guys 2,000 shillings to let us go through... with the understanding that they will keep the way clear so we can return. like I said before, practically everything in this country is negotiable.

We tour the property and it is quite nice. It's at the top of the hill, mostly flat, very grassy, about 5 acres of the first case of fertile, black soil that I have seen in this country, with pau pau trees, palm trees, a few banana trees, and jack fruit growing wild. The air up there was amazing... naturally sweet from the little yellow and blue wildflowers and yellow blossoms that looked like day lilies on some of the trees. the air was crisp and clear with a pretty constant gentle breeze blowing through numerous trees and tall grasses. The trees provide plenty of shade and yet there is abundant open space. A little piece of heaven. When we are in places like this, it is easy to forget we are in Uganda. This is more like the Poconos. but the chickens, hogs, cows, little brick house and little sticks-and-mud dwelling are quick reminders of this country.

Hanan has allowed a family to live in the house, rent-free, in order to keep squatters or someone from trying to claim the land. The houses were on the land when Hanan purchased it. We approached the house and were warmly greeted by the matriarch. She was probably about 65 years old, typically dressed for the hard work she was doing. And then I felt like I was in Georgia or South Carolina. You know that this woman has next to nothing, but she stopped her work, grabbed some jack fruit (probably the best she had) cut it open, cleaned it and gave some to everyone. It was not just warm and polite, but very typical of this people. We walked around the property and took some photos. I have a picture of a 7 feet tall ant hill. The family who lives on the property has planted some sweet potatoes and is raising the animals i mentioned. We needed to see the property to determine the feasibility of building a vocational school for our secondary students. Right now, when children finish 7th grade at our school, we don't have any options for them. So this land was purchased, about 2 years ago, in order to provide some options. It's beautiful property, but I am concerned about the distance from Kampala as well as the accessibility during the rainy season. Horrendous roads.

 

We bought some sweet potatoes from a local grower and headed back down the hill. When we got to the place where the digging was taking place... guess what? The workers had rolled the big cement drainage pipes onto the center of the road so we couldn't pass. I assume by now that you all have a feel for the culture of this wonderful place, so you know what happened next. You're right, we paid our bribe... 2,000 shillings and they politely rolled the pipes out of the way and we continued on our journey. Money talks and that other stuff walks.

We made some stops on the way back to the school... soccer balls, hand balls, skipping ropes, books. When we arrived on campus, about 5pm, classes were already finished for the day and the kids were playing, running around... when we stepped out of the matatu and they saw these brand new balls... you guessed it... just like chicken on a stick. It is amazing how quickly 200 kids can organize themselves into games without adult supervision. We got some excellent video footage.

Part of the plan when we decided to come on this trip, was to bring things that the school and the kids need. So, other than the candy, we packed lots of clothes for the kids, and we planned to leave for the teachers all the clothes we have been wearing since we've been here. But Nicole also brought lots of additional skirts and dresses to distribute to the teachers, most of them donated by my darling wife. So she brought her suitcase from the hotel and presented them to the teachers. I didn't know what was going on because I was outside with the kids, but one of the teachers walked past me, grabbed my hand, and with huge teary eyes began to thank me profusely. I had no clue what was going on, so I said you're welcome, and she hurried away. Nicole and Renee had told them that my wife donated some of the clothing and they wanted to thank me.

We hung around the school for a while then walked down the hill back to the hotel. I don't even think we noticed the cows this time. I mean, after all, they're just cows... part of the landscape.

This may be my last opportunity to deliver these daily messages. It's 5pm here right now. There was no electricity when we woke, so I was not able to write this morning, and today we were busy trying to clean up last minute stuff... shopping for chalkboard erasers, a new battery pack for Hanan’s laptop, hair clippers for the school... and tomorrow promises to be a busy day as we say goodbye and try to get to the airport. so... while today was a fairly uneventful day (or else, I’ve been fully indoctrinated) I’ll try to write in the morning if I can.

It's been quite a trip. I’m glad I came and I’ll be excited to share photos with all of you and fill in any details. this land and its people are remarkable.

Love you all, and I’ll see you soon.

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(Day 14—Final Day in Uganda)
What a trip. What a day.

I don't think I am ever going to be able to adequately express or describe what has happened here. I have already used remarkable, amazing, fantastic, wonderful. maybe... remarkamazfantasderful!! The country, the people, the bluest skies.. baby blue, with the fluffiest, most abundant, whitest clouds I have ever seen... clouds that don't block out the sun, but only enhance the brilliance of a colorful landscape... and that darned red dirt.

The plan for today was just to tie up loose ends, say goodbye to the kids, get back to the hotel, clean up and head to the airport. Of course, knowing this was our last day, the teachers and kids planned the obligatory closing ceremony. Nothing overly dramatic like the opening ceremony. I told Hanan to keep it simple. That the fanfare was not necessary. All I can say is, wait until you see the videotape. We'll make DVD’s for anyone who wants to see the footage we shot since we've been here. Or, maybe, for a small contribution to the school, we'll SELL you a DVD. These great ideas just keep coming. I can't stop it.

We decided to give cash bonuses to the staff. So we got envelopes and wrote everyone's name on them. Depending on whether a full time teacher, part-time, or some of the additional staff, we awarded between 10,000 shillings (for the part-time carpenter, for instance) and 30,000 shillings to full-time teachers. We awarded David, the guy who runs the school, 50,000 shillings... about $35.

the day was appropriately emotional, for students, staff and us. It is 2:05pm right now, we left the school about a half-hour ago, and I think Nicole is still crying. I will miss every part of this journey... but I am glad to be heading back to all of you.

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Volunteers' Blog: Kay and Steve Martin (2008)

We have friends who said they wished they could have an opportunity to travel to Uganda and volunteer at the school. On the other hand we had friends who couldn’t believe we would put ourselves in such a situation.

We were confident of our decision and we weren’t disappointed. With the exception of a young lady who was volunteering at a school for orphans, we didn’t see any other white people during our 16 day stay.

First and foremost the Ugandans are a very friendly and open people. They always have a smile on their faces and are very neat and clean. Considering the conditions of very few paved roads, we traveled on mostly dirt roads with deep ruts. When it was dry they were dusty. When it rained they were muddy and slippery. These people deal with this every day.

Is Uganda for everyone? Not really. You must be prepared to accept frequent power outages, dust, mud and smog. On the other hand you feel like a rock star. You are welcomed by everyone.

At the school the children were warm and friendly. They wanted to touch our skin and hair. They were curious about the skin on our elbows and the veins on the back of our hands.

When we took digital pictures they immediately wanted to see themselves. They would smile and point. To them that was a real treat. No wonder we took over 600 pictures.

We followed the basic rules of travel. Drink bottled water, no ice (that didn’t matter as there was very little refrigeration), no fruits or raw veggies that didn’t have skin on them. No milk unless it was boiled. We didn’t experience any problems with the food.

There was never a question of safety. We walked through the neighborhoods, waved to the children and adults and always got an acknowledgement. The people are proud and they maintain a very clean appearance and their homes are spotless. Many people live in one room or two. The cooking facilities are outside the house since they cook with wood or charcoal. Also, they do their laundry in wash pans and hang it inside-out to dry. Why? The red clay dust might show on the outside. It is amazing how clean they can get a mud stained white shirt. Don’t expect your laundry to be dried in one day. Two or three is more like it. At the hotel they washed the floor on their hands and knees. It was a white tile floor and you can imagine how red clay looked on it. Every morning it was spotless.

There is no garbage service. People place their garbage in a pile and then it gets burned. That is why there is such smog in the air. Between the wood cooking and the burning garbage there is a lot of smoke.

We have been asked what we got out of our trip. First we have a great appreciation for what we have in the USA. Second we have great respect for the people of Uganda. Third we see what an education means to these people. The Ugandans sacrifice for their children’s education. We were surprised at the number of fathers who brought their children to register for classes.

How can you make a difference? First, make a financial commitment to support the African Rural Schools Foundation. It is amazing that they can educate one child for $10 per month. Their success is apparent. They are ranked high in the testing done at the end of the school year.

What do they need? Additional permanent buildings, books, supplies, purchase of the land where the school is located and sponsorships for needy children. We made a commitment to sponsor children as well as making the trip to Uganda. Based on our stories, several of our friends want to contribute to the school. This is one charity where every dollar donated goes directly to the school. Financial control of contributions is managed through a rigorous budget process.

On a shopping trip a soccer ball and a volley ball were purchased. These replaced plastic grocery bags stuffed with more plastic grocery bags that they used for balls. The girls used long strands of grass tied together as a jump rope. When the soccer ball and volley balls were presented to the students a loud cheer rang out. After the meeting they were all playing with the new equipment.

Thank goodness for technology. The most prevalent thing we saw was the cell phone. With their infrastructure very few homes have telephones. Electricity is a luxury when it is on. There is a water system but not everyone has running water. Many families carry their water from springs or buy it from a neighbor who has running water.

What a wonderful 15 day journey we had! Steve was pleased with the construction progress on the library which started with a foundation and 15 days later was ready for the trusses and roofing. In my mind, the best part was all the beautiful Ugandan people we had the pleasure of getting to know. They are truly the nicest, most welcoming, and hard working people we have ever met. The Ugandans opened their homes and hearts to us and we had the privilege of experiencing and sharing in their daily lives. Considering the widespread poverty, this is truly an amazing country. Hanan has done a fantastic job with few resources, and I know that the students are receiving a good education and a lot of love. We will miss our celebrity status, happy smiles and warm hugs which we received each day upon arriving at the school.

Kay and Steve Martin
Asheville, North Carolina

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